Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Share Price Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Should You Sell?

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)’s stock price crossed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Friday . The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $55.69 and traded as high as $62.46. Ashland shares last traded at $62.3290, with a volume of 719,748 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ASH. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Ashland from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Ashland from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $67.67.

Ashland Stock Up 0.1%

The company has a market capitalization of $2.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50-day moving average of $61.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $55.70. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $386.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $401.42 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a positive return on equity of 7.58%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.28 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ashland Inc. will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -10.99%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,067,000. Oak Thistle LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 19,063 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in Ashland during the second quarter valued at approximately $317,000. Atlantic Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ashland by 137.1% during the second quarter. Atlantic Investment Management Inc. now owns 296,320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,899,000 after buying an additional 171,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ashland during the second quarter valued at approximately $264,000. 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.