Analysts Set Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) PT at $67.67

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven ratings firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have assigned a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $67.6667.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ASH. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Evercore set a $62.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Argus increased their target price on shares of Ashland from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Zacks Research raised Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ashland from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of ASH. Rothschild Investment LLC boosted its stake in Ashland by 3,673.3% during the third quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ashland by 59.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Ashland in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ashland in the 3rd quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Ashland in the 3rd quarter valued at $57,000. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of ASH stock opened at $50.21 on Tuesday. Ashland has a 12 month low of $45.21 and a 12 month high of $65.64. The firm has a market cap of $2.30 billion, a PE ratio of -3.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $60.28 and a 200-day moving average of $55.61. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

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

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st were issued a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -10.99%.

Ashland Company Profile

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.