Analysts Set Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Price Target at $60.13

Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) have been given an average rating of “Hold” by the eleven analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $60.1250.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on Ashland from $62.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research lowered Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, October 24th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Ashland from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Ashland in a research report on Monday, September 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Ashland by 25.6% in the 1st quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 39,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,369,000 after acquiring an additional 8,153 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 44.9% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 7,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 2,368 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ashland by 4.6% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $441,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Ashland by 190.9% in the first quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 73,543 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,360,000 after purchasing an additional 48,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its stake in Ashland by 53.3% in the first quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,721 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $161,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Stock Performance

Ashland stock opened at $57.63 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $51.57. The stock has a market cap of $2.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.96 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 2.85 and a quick ratio of 1.51. Ashland has a 1-year low of $45.21 and a 1-year high of $77.29.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, June 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter. The firm had revenue of $509.00 million for the quarter. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.07% and a negative net margin of 46.25%. On average, analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.415 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 1st. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -9.05%.

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.