Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s Why

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The company traded as high as $67.27 and last traded at $67.1190, with a volume of 139054 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $64.36.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings lowered Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.67.

Ashland Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $57.40 and a 200 day moving average of $58.38. The company has a market cap of $3.08 billion, a PE ratio of -4.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.78.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). Ashland had a positive return on equity of 8.06% and a negative net margin of 39.03%.The business had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. Ashland’s payout ratio is -10.89%.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in Ashland by 18.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 46,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,747,000 after acquiring an additional 7,309 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in Ashland by 6.3% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its position in Ashland by 49.4% during the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 284,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,865,000 after buying an additional 94,067 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $22,953,000 after buying an additional 6,245 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Ashland by 10.1% during the first 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

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.