Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and six 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 $101.00.

ASH has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ashland in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Ashland during the 1st quarter valued at $102,000. Steph & Co. increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 422.9% in the first quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 4,591 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $447,000 after acquiring an additional 3,713 shares during the last quarter. Washington Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 1st quarter worth about $341,000. Fulton Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Ashland by 5.8% in the first quarter. Fulton Bank N.A. now owns 3,358 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 122.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $93.57 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $94.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.69 billion, a PE ratio of 30.68 and a beta of 0.92. Ashland has a twelve month low of $70.82 and a twelve month high of $105.15.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.21 by $0.24. The firm had revenue of $473.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.69 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.95% and a net margin of 7.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ashland will post 4.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.385 dividend. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.65%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.49%.

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.