Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Sets New 1-Year High – What’s Next?

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $69.64 and last traded at $69.0770, with a volume of 75443 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $68.51.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ASH shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ashland from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ashland from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price objective on Ashland in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ashland presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.78.

Ashland Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $62.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $59.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The firm had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.61 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. The firm’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.99 EPS. Analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 1st were given a dividend of $0.42 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -10.89%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASH. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Ashland by 18.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 46,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 7,309 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in Ashland by 6.3% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Ashland by 49.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 284,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,865,000 after buying an additional 94,067 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ashland by 1.6% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 387,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,953,000 after buying an additional 6,245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Ashland by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 152,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,061,000 after buying an additional 13,989 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

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.