Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $103.50.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price objective on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ASH. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Ashland by 274.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 495,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,797,000 after purchasing an additional 363,328 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,656,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $139,673,000 after buying an additional 252,104 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,314,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $218,686,000 after acquiring an additional 198,913 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 616.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 189,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,875,000 after acquiring an additional 162,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Ashland in the second quarter valued at about $14,346,000. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Stock Up 0.9 %

ASH opened at $88.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.41 billion, a PE ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 1.84. Ashland has a fifty-two week low of $70.82 and a fifty-two week high of $102.50. The business has a 50-day moving average of $89.57 and a 200-day moving average of $94.13.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $544.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.08 million. Ashland had a net margin of 7.01% and a return on equity of 5.98%. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, September 1st were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.84%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.97%.

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.