Brokerages Set Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Price Target at $103.50

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $103.50.

ASH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Ashland by 122.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 153 shares in the last quarter. Neo Ivy Capital Management acquired a new stake in Ashland in the fourth quarter valued at $67,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Ashland by 143.7% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 809 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,000 after buying an additional 477 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ashland during the 2nd quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ashland by 8,211.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $71,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of ASH opened at $86.70 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $89.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $94.29. Ashland has a 12-month low of $70.82 and a 12-month high of $102.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 0.88.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. Ashland had a net margin of 7.01% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The business had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.08 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.23 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.55 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Ashland’s payout ratio is presently 42.97%.

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.