Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Trading Up 7.5% – Here’s Why

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)’s share price was up 7.5% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $62.48 and last traded at $61.7980. Approximately 1,116,902 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 43% from the average daily volume of 781,139 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on ASH shares. Evercore set a $62.00 price objective on Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.78.

Ashland Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $55.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.69. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.08, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.61 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is -10.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASH. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 46,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 7,309 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 49.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 284,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,865,000 after acquiring an additional 94,067 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 387,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,953,000 after acquiring an additional 6,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Ashland by 10.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 152,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,061,000 after purchasing an additional 13,989 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.