Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Receives $63.78 Consensus Target Price from Brokerages

Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.7778.

Several research analysts have issued reports on ASH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ashland from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Zacks Research upgraded Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE:ASH opened at $66.39 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $63.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $59.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.04 billion, a PE ratio of -4.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.41. Ashland has a twelve month low of $46.29 and a twelve month high of $69.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. The company had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.42 dividend. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -10.89%.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ashland by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,215 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 181 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System raised its holdings in Ashland by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 11,039 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $614,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 6.3% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 59.0% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 11.4% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 2,457 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 252 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.