Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.42

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share by the basic materials company on Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st.

Ashland has raised its dividend by an average of 0.1% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Ashland has a dividend payout ratio of 35.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect Ashland to earn $4.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.9%.

Ashland Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:ASH opened at $76.68 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The business’s 50 day moving average is $71.79 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.38. Ashland has a 52 week low of $48.00 and a 52 week high of $79.50. The company has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a PE ratio of 958.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.36.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The basic materials company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.27 by ($0.15). Ashland had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 0.21%. The firm had revenue of $996.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $501.76 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Ashland’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Ashland will post 4.12 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Company Profile

Ashland Inc. is a specialty chemicals company that develops and supplies ingredients and additives for businesses across a range of industries. Its products include pharmaceutical ingredients and excipients, personal care ingredients, and specialty additives used in coatings, construction materials and other applications. The company traces its roots to 1924, when it was established as Ashland Refining Company in Kentucky. Over time, Ashland shifted from its origins in oil refining toward specialty chemicals and ingredients.