JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Stock Price

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its target price lowered by stock analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $77.00 to $70.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 10.93% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on ASH. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ashland from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 22nd. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.33.

Ashland Price Performance

Ashland stock opened at $63.10 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.43. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $60.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $54.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 3.15. Ashland has a 1 year low of $45.21 and a 1 year high of $67.39.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $386.00 million for 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 company’s revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASH. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new stake in Ashland in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $3,067,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 95.7% in the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 7,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $395,000 after buying an additional 3,841 shares in the last quarter. Oak Thistle LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 171.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Thistle LLC now owns 30,211 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,447,000 after buying an additional 19,063 shares during the period. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in Ashland during the 2nd quarter worth about $317,000. Finally, Atlantic Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ashland by 137.1% during the 2nd quarter. Atlantic Investment Management Inc. now owns 296,320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $14,899,000 after acquiring an additional 171,320 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.