Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Declares Dividend Increase – $0.41 Per Share

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 7th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Saturday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.405 per share by the basic materials company on Saturday, June 15th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 31st. This is an increase from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

Ashland has increased its dividend by an average of 10.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Ashland has a payout ratio of 28.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ashland to earn $5.59 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.62 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 29.0%.

Ashland Price Performance

ASH traded up $0.30 on Thursday, reaching $97.86. The company had a trading volume of 319,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 439,223. Ashland has a one year low of $70.82 and a one year high of $99.55. The company has a current ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.87 and a 200-day moving average of $87.36. The company has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.94 and a beta of 0.92.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $575.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $574.64 million. Ashland had a net margin of 9.09% and a return on equity of 5.57%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 4.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ASH shares. StockNews.com raised Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ashland from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ashland from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ashland from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $112.00 in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $106.44.

Ashland Company Profile

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.