Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Receives $107.88 Average Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $107.88.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ASH. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Ashland from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ashland from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Ashland from $101.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th.

Ashland Stock Performance

ASH opened at $95.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 3.15 and a quick ratio of 1.94. The company has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a PE ratio of 25.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $96.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $94.30. Ashland has a 1 year low of $70.82 and a 1 year high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.13. Ashland had a net margin of 9.09% and a return on equity of 5.57%. The business had revenue of $575.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $574.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. Ashland’s revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 1st were paid a $0.405 dividend. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 31st. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.97%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commerce Bank boosted its position in Ashland by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 4,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $398,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 122.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 5.8% in the 1st quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $327,000 after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Ashland by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 64,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,411,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in Ashland by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 21,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,773,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions.