Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Price Target Raised to $80.00

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its price objective hoisted by Wells Fargo & Company from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ashland from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Ashland from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ashland from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Ashland from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.30.

Ashland Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:ASH opened at $76.68 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $71.79 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $64.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 958.47, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 2.96. Ashland has a 1 year low of $48.00 and a 1 year high of $79.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $996.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $501.76 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 4.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASH. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ashland in the second quarter worth $376,376,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Ashland by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,496,021 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $138,793,000 after purchasing an additional 267,741 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ashland by 648,370.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,945,412 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $128,183,000 after purchasing an additional 1,945,112 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor purchased a new position in Ashland in the 2nd quarter valued at about $105,471,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in Ashland in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,256,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.