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

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

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

Ashland Stock Up 0.3 %

ASH opened at $84.81 on Friday. Ashland has a twelve month low of $70.82 and a twelve month high of $102.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.75, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $86.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.95.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. Ashland had a net margin of 7.01% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The firm had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.08 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.23 earnings per share. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a $0.405 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 30th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.91%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.92%.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Equitable Trust Co. grew its position in Ashland by 2.2% during the third quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 6,431 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $559,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,295 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $681,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 4,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. VELA Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Ashland by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. VELA Investment Management LLC now owns 50,251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,748,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 16.5% during the 3rd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 1,677 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $146,000 after buying an additional 237 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.