JPMorgan Chase & Co. Lowers Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Price Target to $65.00

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its price objective reduced by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $70.00 to $65.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price target points to a potential upside of 21.85% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on ASH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Evercore set a $62.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley set a $63.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Argus decreased their price target on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.44.

Ashland Trading Up 8.5%

Shares of Ashland stock traded up $4.20 on Thursday, hitting $53.35. 1,439,786 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 698,991. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $55.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $56.48. The company has a current ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Ashland has a 52 week low of $46.29 and a 52 week high of $65.64. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of -3.53, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 0.45.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Ashland had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a positive return on equity of 7.58%. The company had revenue of $964.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ashland will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in Ashland by 51.1% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 182,267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,732,000 after buying an additional 61,673 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in Ashland in the third quarter worth $3,067,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ashland in the third quarter worth $10,397,000. Standard Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ashland in the third quarter worth $107,318,000. Finally, Invenomic Capital Management LP grew its holdings in Ashland by 92.9% in the third quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP now owns 147,482 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,066,000 after purchasing an additional 71,044 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is 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.