Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Lifted to “Neutral” at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ashland (NYSE:ASH) from an underweight rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Thursday morning, Marketbeat reports. They currently have $89.00 target price on the basic materials company’s stock, down from their prior target price of $90.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ashland from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho upped their price target on Ashland from $101.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com cut Ashland from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ashland from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and upped their price target for the company from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ashland from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a market perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $104.63.

Ashland Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE:ASH traded down $1.10 on Thursday, hitting $82.01. 716,056 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 413,539. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.90. Ashland has a 52 week low of $70.82 and a 52 week high of $102.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 3.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $95.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.72.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.08 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 9.09%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 696.4% in the 4th quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 52,372 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,415,000 after purchasing an additional 45,796 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 1st quarter worth approximately $624,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in Ashland by 56.5% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 216,102 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,042,000 after purchasing an additional 78,013 shares during the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ashland in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,480,000. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Ashland by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,424,801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $204,435,000 after purchasing an additional 164,468 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.