Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) receives consensus PT of $103.50 from analysts

Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH – Get Your Free Report ) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $103.50.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ASH shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th.

Get the latest research report on Ashland

Hedge funds weigh on Ashland

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASH. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Ashland by 122.4% in the first 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. UMB Bank na raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 193.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new position in Ashland in the fourth quarter valued at $67,000. Inçalta Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland in the second quarter valued at about $71,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ashland by 8,211.1% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of shares are held by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland stock performance

NYSE ASH opened at $84.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.84, and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $86.41 and its two hundred day moving average is $93.04. The firm has a market cap of $4.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.88. Ashland has a fifty-two week low of $70.82 and a fifty-two week high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH – Get Your Free Report ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.08 million. Ashland had a net margin of 7.01% and a return on equity of 5.98%. Ashland’s revenue was down 0.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.23 per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 4.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30. This represents an annualized dividend of $1.62 and a yield of 1.91%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.97%.

Ashland Company Profile

(Get a free report

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

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