Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Receives $63.75 Average Target Price from Analysts

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have issued a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $63.75.

Several brokerages recently commented on ASH. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Ashland from $62.00 to $53.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ashland from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Ashland from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, December 15th.

Ashland Stock Performance

Ashland stock opened at $59.87 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $54.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $52.70. Ashland has a 52 week low of $45.21 and a 52 week high of $73.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.26, a PEG ratio of 1.00 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.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter. The company had revenue of $509.00 million during the quarter. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.07% and a negative net margin of 46.25%. Equities research analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Monday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 1st were given a dividend of $0.415 per share. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 1st. Ashland’s payout ratio is -9.05%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASH. Mirabella Financial Services LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter valued at $294,000. Standard Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ashland in the third quarter valued at about $107,318,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 28.4% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,790 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares in the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland in the third quarter worth about $1,167,000. Finally, CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 76.7% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 2,098 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $101,000 after buying an additional 911 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Ashland

Here are the key news stories impacting Ashland this week:

• Neutral Sentiment: Historic Pioneer Hall reopened to the public in Ashland — local cultural/heritage reopening, positive for community tourism but unrelated to Ashland Inc.’s business. Historic Pioneer Hall Reopens to the Public in Ashland
• Neutral Sentiment: New Grocery Outlet to open in Ashland — local retail development that may modestly boost regional foot traffic; no direct link to Ashland Inc.’s corporate performance. New Grocery Outlet to open in Ashland
• Neutral Sentiment: Mt. Ashland pauses ski operations due to low snowpack and forecasted rain — local tourism impact, seasonal and region-specific; unlikely to affect ASH financials. Mt. Ashland pauses ski operations due to low snowpack, forecasted rain
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple local violent-crime reports (New Year’s Day shooting, arrests, and separate homicide reports) — concerning for community safety but not tied to Ashland Inc.’s corporate operations or financial outlook. Investors are unlikely to react to these regional crime stories when valuing ASH. Ashland man charged with aggravated murder in New Year’s Day shooting, bond set at $2 million
• Neutral Sentiment: Additional coverage of the same shootings/arrests and an unrelated homicide report — multiple outlets reporting the incidents; still localized and not expected to move ASH fundamentals. Ashland police arrest suspect in fatal shooting
• Neutral Sentiment: Report of a former Ashland dentist and spouse found shot to death in Columbus — tragic but unrelated to Ashland Inc.’s operations. Former Ashland dentist, wife found shot to death in Columbus

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.