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

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $102.00.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Ashland from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASH opened at $70.27 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $3.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.74. Ashland has a 52 week low of $68.14 and a 52 week high of $102.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.02). Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. The business had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.52 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.31%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ashland

In other Ashland news, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total value of $35,209.57. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,188.74. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 2,883 shares in the company, valued at approximately $224,585.70. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ashland by 27.5% in the second quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,289 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,445,000 after purchasing an additional 3,299 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ashland by 8,211.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 407.2% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 139,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,202,000 after buying an additional 112,169 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ashland by 34.7% during the second quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 9,466 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $894,000 after buying an additional 2,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 2.4% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,763 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,608,000 after buying an additional 1,144 shares during 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.