Brokerages Set Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Price Target at $67.67

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $67.6667.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ASH shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Mizuho upped their price objective on Ashland from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Ashland from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research upgraded Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Evercore set a $62.00 price target on Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 18th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ashland by 284.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $172,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,555,585 shares in the last quarter. Standard Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $107,318,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 13,240.8% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,736,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $101,861,000 after buying an additional 1,723,159 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ashland by 775.6% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,473,000 after acquiring an additional 1,682,994 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its position in Ashland by 1,080,682.0% in the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,437,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $84,335,000 after acquiring an additional 1,437,307 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ASH opened at $64.10 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $2.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.43. Ashland has a twelve month low of $45.21 and a twelve month high of $65.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.52. The company has a current ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $386.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $401.42 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a positive return on equity of 7.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.28 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be issued a $0.415 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently -10.99%.

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.