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

Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $68.60.

Several equities analysts recently commented on ASH shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. StockNews.com downgraded Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Ashland from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Ashland from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Ashland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ashland by 2,736.0% during the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 212.4% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 706 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $42,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 63.9% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Ashland by 285.7% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atala Financial Inc bought a new stake in shares of Ashland during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Stock Down 1.9%

Ashland stock opened at $51.36 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $52.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a current ratio of 2.52. Ashland has a fifty-two week low of $45.21 and a fifty-two week high of $102.50. The company has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a PE ratio of -77.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.58.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.99 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.10 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $479.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $514.79 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.41% and a negative net margin of 1.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Investors of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 30th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -69.17%.

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.