Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Upgraded to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) was upgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also commented on ASH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ashland from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ashland from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Weiss Ratings lowered Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Argus lowered their price target on Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price objective on Ashland in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.78.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of ASH opened at $68.68 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.15 billion, a PE ratio of -4.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $62.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.54. Ashland has a 52-week low of $46.29 and a 52-week high of $69.64.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $482.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.61 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 8.06% and a negative net margin of 39.03%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.99 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ashland by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,801,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $105,668,000 after buying an additional 345,919 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Ashland during the third quarter valued at about $1,167,000. Thames Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ashland in the fourth quarter worth about $10,342,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 126.8% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 225,832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $13,250,000 after buying an additional 126,238 shares during the period. Finally, ING Groep NV purchased a new position in shares of Ashland in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,974,000. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Company Profile

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.