Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Ashland (NYSE:ASH – Get Rating) in a research note released on Thursday. The firm issued a hold rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ashland from $135.00 to $136.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ashland from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, January 11th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Ashland from $141.00 to $136.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ashland from $118.00 to $115.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Ashland from a neutral rating to an underweight rating and lifted their target price for the company from $104.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $128.13.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE:ASH opened at $95.00 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 2.16 and a current ratio of 3.72. Ashland has a fifty-two week low of $91.66 and a fifty-two week high of $114.36. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 5.90 and a beta of 1.00. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $104.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.22.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.97 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.95 by $0.02. Ashland had a net margin of 38.23% and a return on equity of 9.82%. The business had revenue of $525.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $516.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Ashland will post 6.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 28th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.32%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Eminence Capital LP increased its position in shares of Ashland by 1.2% during the second quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 4,083,978 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $420,854,000 after acquiring an additional 48,800 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Ashland by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,321,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $249,680,000 after acquiring an additional 61,216 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its position in shares of Ashland by 3.4% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 2,043,155 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $210,547,000 after acquiring an additional 67,631 shares in the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ashland by 1.2% during the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 1,857,351 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $176,392,000 after acquiring an additional 21,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Ashland by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,762,930 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $167,425,000 after purchasing an additional 33,518 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.21% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Company Profile

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Ashland, Inc engages in the provision of architectural coatings, construction, energy, food and beverage, nutraceuticals, personal care, and pharmaceutical. It operates through the following segments: Life Sciences, Personal Care, Special Additives, and Intermediates. The company was founded in 1924 and is headquartered in Wilmington, DE.