Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Trading Up 7.5% – Here’s Why

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)’s share price rose 7.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $62.48 and last traded at $61.7980. Approximately 1,116,902 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 43% from the average daily volume of 781,139 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.46.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ASH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Evercore set a $62.00 price target on Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Weiss Ratings cut Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Argus reduced their price target on Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.78.

Ashland Trading Up 9.4%

The company has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.08, a PEG ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $55.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $57.69. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $482.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.99 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. Ashland’s payout ratio is -10.89%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 59.0% in the second 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 shares of Ashland in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ashland in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming bought a new stake in shares of Ashland in the third quarter valued at approximately $57,000. 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.