Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Price Target Raised to $116.00

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its price target hoisted by UBS Group from $114.00 to $116.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ashland from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their price objective for the company from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Ashland in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set an outperform rating and a $108.00 price objective for the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $101.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com raised shares of Ashland from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ashland from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $102.89.

Ashland Price Performance

NYSE:ASH opened at $94.50 on Wednesday. Ashland has a 12-month low of $70.82 and a 12-month high of $100.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $95.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.60. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.98 and a beta of 0.92.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.13. Ashland had a net margin of 7.62% and a return on equity of 5.95%. The company had revenue of $575.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $574.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.33 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ASH. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ashland by 17.4% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 4,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 682 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in Ashland by 4.7% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 6,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in Ashland by 13.0% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 9,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $810,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in Ashland by 24.0% in the third quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 2,822 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 546 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steph & Co. grew its position in Ashland by 4.1% in the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 4,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Company Profile

Ashland Inc provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions.