Wall Street Zen Upgrades Ashland (NYSE:ASH) to Hold

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Saturday.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Mizuho cut their price objective on Ashland from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ashland from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. UBS Group dropped their target price on Ashland from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Ashland in a report on Monday, September 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.57.

Ashland Price Performance

NYSE ASH opened at $48.64 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $52.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $51.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of -2.60, a PEG ratio of 10.77 and a beta of 0.49. Ashland has a 1 year low of $45.21 and a 1 year high of $88.89.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $463.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $479.34 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 6.82% and a negative net margin of 46.01%.Ashland’s quarterly revenue was down 14.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.49 EPS. Ashland has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ashland will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ashland by 284.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $172,318,000 after purchasing an additional 2,555,585 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in Ashland by 3.0% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,847,326 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $143,164,000 after purchasing an additional 84,086 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Ashland by 33.1% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,291,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $132,383,000 after purchasing an additional 569,740 shares during the last quarter. Cooperman Leon G grew its holdings in Ashland by 16.6% during the first quarter. Cooperman Leon G now owns 1,694,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,446,000 after purchasing an additional 240,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ashland by 7.4% during the first quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,683,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $99,822,000 after purchasing an additional 115,811 shares during the last quarter. 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.