Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Rating Increased to Hold at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ashland (NYSE:ASH) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on ASH. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Argus upped their price target on Ashland from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ashland from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.33.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ASH opened at $64.24 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Ashland has a 12 month low of $45.21 and a 12 month high of $67.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.72 and a 200-day moving average of $54.56. The company has a market capitalization of $2.94 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.43.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $386.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $401.42 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.58% and a negative net margin of 38.26%.The business’s revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ashland will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, March 1st will be paid a $0.415 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Ashland’s payout ratio is currently -10.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ASH. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 18.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 46,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 7,309 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Ashland by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ashland by 49.4% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 284,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,865,000 after purchasing an additional 94,067 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 1.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 387,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,953,000 after purchasing an additional 6,245 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Ashland by 10.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 152,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,061,000 after buying an additional 13,989 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and supplies a broad range of performance and process-critical additives, ingredients and technologies. Its portfolio spans performance additives for coatings, adhesives and sealants; specialty ingredients for personal care and pharmaceutical applications; and process aids used in water treatment and other industrial processes. Ashland aims to address customer challenges by delivering tailored solutions that improve product performance, processing efficiency and sustainability outcomes.

Founded in 1924 as the Ashland Oil & Refining Company, the firm gradually expanded into the specialty chemicals sector over the second half of the 20th century.