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

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 11th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 1st.

Ashland has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1% annually 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% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research 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 Stock Performance

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

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

About Ashland

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.