Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has been given an average rating of “Hold” by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $65.1250.

ASH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price target on Ashland from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Zacks Research downgraded Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Ashland from $62.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ashland from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $61.00 to $71.00 in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Argus raised their target price on shares of Ashland from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new position in shares of Ashland in the third quarter worth $3,067,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 95.7% during the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 7,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $395,000 after acquiring an additional 3,841 shares during the period. Oak Thistle LLC lifted its position in Ashland by 171.0% in the third quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 30,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,447,000 after purchasing an additional 19,063 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Ashland during the 2nd quarter valued at $317,000. Finally, Atlantic Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ashland by 137.1% during the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Investment Management Inc. now owns 296,320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,899,000 after purchasing an additional 171,320 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Stock Down 1.0%

ASH opened at $61.14 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.33, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $59.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $54.16. Ashland has a 52 week low of $45.21 and a 52 week high of $67.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.51, a current ratio of 2.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.08 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.17 by ($0.09). The firm had revenue of $477.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $481.97 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 46.25% and a positive return on equity of 7.07%. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.26 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.415 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 27th. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. Ashland’s payout ratio is currently -9.05%.

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.