Mizuho Raises Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Price Target to $110.00

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its target price boosted by Mizuho from $101.00 to $110.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

ASH has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ashland from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and lifted their target price for the company from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet upgraded Ashland from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ashland from $70.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an underweight rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ashland from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Ashland in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued an outperform rating and a $108.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $103.11.

Ashland Trading Up 0.0 %

ASH stock opened at $95.81 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41 and a beta of 0.92. Ashland has a 1-year low of $70.82 and a 1-year high of $99.55. The business’s 50 day moving average is $95.59 and its 200-day moving average is $86.72.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.13. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 9.09%. The firm had revenue of $575.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $574.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Ashland by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,658,237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $224,118,000 after purchasing an additional 62,182 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,424,801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $204,435,000 after acquiring an additional 164,468 shares during the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ashland by 14.6% during the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,953,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $159,522,000 after acquiring an additional 248,591 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in Ashland by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,671,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $140,932,000 after acquiring an additional 256,828 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC grew its holdings in Ashland by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,656,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $139,673,000 after purchasing an additional 252,104 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

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.