Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s What Happened

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ASH. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on Ashland in a research note on Monday, May 4th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ashland from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.67.

Ashland Stock Down 0.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The stock has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.40, a PEG ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $57.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $58.55.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. Ashland’s quarterly revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. Ashland’s payout ratio is -10.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASH. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ashland by 284.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $172,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,555,585 shares in the last quarter. Standard Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Ashland by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Standard Investments LLC now owns 2,625,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $154,009,000 after buying an additional 385,000 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Ashland by 12.0% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,496,021 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $138,793,000 after buying an additional 267,741 shares in the last quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 775.6% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $111,473,000 after buying an additional 1,682,994 shares during the period. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 23.8% during the fourth quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $105,668,000 after buying an additional 345,919 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.