Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $62.7778.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Evercore set a $62.00 price objective on Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Argus dropped their price target on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASH. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 284.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $172,318,000 after buying an additional 2,555,585 shares during the last quarter. Standard Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the third quarter worth approximately $107,318,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Ashland by 13,240.8% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,736,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $101,861,000 after buying an additional 1,723,159 shares during the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ashland by 775.6% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,473,000 after buying an additional 1,682,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its holdings in Ashland by 1,080,682.0% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,437,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,335,000 after buying an additional 1,437,307 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Stock Performance

Ashland stock opened at $56.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $57.58. 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 has a 12-month low of $46.29 and a 12-month high of $65.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.43.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.0%. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently -10.89%.

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.