Brokerages Set Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Target Price at $65.13

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have issued a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $65.1250.

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 22nd. Argus increased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Ashland from $62.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ashland from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 12th.

Trending Headlines about Ashland

Here are the key news stories impacting Ashland this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ashland landed an exclusive EMEA distribution partnership with Univar Solutions to sell its cellulose ethers into food & beverage channels, expanding commercial reach in a region with rising demand for functional ingredients — a growth and revenue-supporting deal for Ashland’s specialty-ingredients business. Univar Solutions and Ashland Forge Exclusive Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Ashland’s Compensation Committee approved a one-time long-term equity award for the CEO (announced Jan. 26) aimed at retaining leadership and aligning management incentives with long-term performance — typically viewed favorably for continuity, though it will add compensation expense and potential dilution. Ashland grants CEO long-term equity award to retain leadership
• Neutral Sentiment: Several local news items (vehicle accidents on icy roads, weather forecasts, community and school stories) reference the town name “Ashland” but are unrelated to Ashland Inc.’s business and are unlikely to affect the stock’s fundamentals. Representative links: Car slides off bridge into Ashland river | Nurse rescued after car slides off icy Mass. bridge | Car veer off icy roads in Ashland

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ashland by 284.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $172,318,000 after acquiring an additional 2,555,585 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 3.0% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,847,326 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $143,164,000 after purchasing an additional 84,086 shares during the last quarter. Standard Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ashland in the third quarter valued at approximately $107,318,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 11.7% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,371,755 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $68,972,000 after buying an additional 143,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Ashland by 807.8% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,123,804 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,841,000 after buying an additional 1,000,006 shares in the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Stock Performance

ASH stock opened at $62.16 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of -3.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.85, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $59.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $54.05. Ashland has a 1-year low of $45.21 and a 1-year high of $72.29.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The basic materials company reported $1.08 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.17 by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $477.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $481.97 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 46.25% and a positive return on equity of 7.07%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.26 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 27th. Ashland’s payout ratio is -9.05%.

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.