Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Price Target Lowered to $56.00 at Argus

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its target price decreased by Argus from $70.00 to $56.00 in a research report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. Argus currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research raised Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ashland from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Mizuho increased their price target on Ashland from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Ashland from $77.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.11.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE:ASH opened at $49.93 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $59.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $55.54. Ashland has a 1-year low of $45.21 and a 1-year high of $65.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 3.15 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.30, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.42.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $386.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $401.42 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a positive return on equity of 7.58%. The business’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 EPS. Analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 27th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is -10.99%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Rothschild Investment LLC lifted its stake in Ashland by 3,673.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 551 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Ashland by 59.0% in the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Ashland in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd purchased a new stake in Ashland during the third quarter worth about $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Ashland during the third quarter worth about $57,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and supplies a broad range of performance and process-critical additives, ingredients and technologies. Its portfolio spans performance additives for coatings, adhesives and sealants; specialty ingredients for personal care and pharmaceutical applications; and process aids used in water treatment and other industrial processes. Ashland aims to address customer challenges by delivering tailored solutions that improve product performance, processing efficiency and sustainability outcomes.

Founded in 1924 as the Ashland Oil & Refining Company, the firm gradually expanded into the specialty chemicals sector over the second half of the 20th century.