Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Receives $101.00 Average PT from Brokerages

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation and six have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $101.00.

Several brokerages recently commented on ASH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ashland from $70.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $112.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Ashland from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ashland in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 14th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Ashland by 122.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ashland in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Ashland in the 2nd quarter worth about $31,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Ashland by 143.9% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 378 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 338.0% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of ASH stock opened at $95.47 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 3.30 and a quick ratio of 1.88. Ashland has a one year low of $70.82 and a one year high of $104.92. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.78 billion, a PE ratio of 31.30 and a beta of 0.92.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.45 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.24. The company had revenue of $473.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.69 million. Ashland had a net margin of 7.62% and a return on equity of 5.95%. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a dividend of $0.385 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. Ashland’s payout ratio is 50.49%.

About Ashland

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.