Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $72.25 and last traded at $68.5150, with a volume of 649894 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $66.38.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ASH. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ashland in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price objective on Ashland in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ashland from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ashland has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.20.

Ashland Stock Up 2.1%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $59.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a current ratio of 3.06. The company has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a PE ratio of -4.40, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -10.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASH. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 59.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Ashland in the third quarter valued at $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ashland by 38.0% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the period. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in Ashland by 535.8% during the fourth quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,348 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its stake in Ashland by 398.3% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

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.