Argus Lowers Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Price Target to $56.00

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its price target cut by equities research analysts at Argus from $70.00 to $56.00 in a report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Argus’ price target suggests a potential upside of 10.83% from the company’s current price.

ASH has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ashland from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ashland from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ashland presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.11.

Ashland Stock Performance

ASH traded up $1.72 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $50.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 66,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 680,239. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 3.15. The company’s 50-day moving average is $60.01 and its 200-day moving average is $55.57. Ashland has a 52 week low of $45.21 and a 52 week high of $65.64. The firm has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a PE ratio of -3.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.42.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $386.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $401.42 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a positive return on equity of 7.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Rothschild Investment LLC grew its position in Ashland by 3,673.3% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ashland by 59.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth $57,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Company Profile

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.