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

Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $102.00.

Several analysts have commented on ASH shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ashland from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research 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 Stock Down 0.1 %

Ashland stock opened at $71.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.45, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.86. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Ashland has a fifty-two week low of $71.56 and a fifty-two week high of $102.50.

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

Ashland Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, December 1st were given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.36%.

Insider Activity at Ashland

In other news, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total transaction of $35,209.57. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 14,182 shares in the company, valued at $1,107,188.74. The trade was a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $224,585.70. This trade represents a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,773,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $262,037,000 after acquiring an additional 86,977 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 12.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,598,602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $226,000,000 after purchasing an additional 284,215 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 6.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,737,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $151,131,000 after purchasing an additional 103,517 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ashland by 6,127.2% in the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 880,459 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,574,000 after purchasing an additional 866,320 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 827,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $72,000,000 after buying an additional 2,316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

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.