JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Stock Price

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its target price raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $65.00 to $75.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

ASH has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Argus dropped their price objective on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ashland from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $63.78.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of ASH traded up $1.72 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $66.72. The stock had a trading volume of 613,958 shares, compared to its average volume of 994,478. The company has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of -4.33, a PEG ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $60.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $59.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. Ashland has a fifty-two week low of $46.29 and a fifty-two week high of $68.25.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Ashland had a negative net margin of 39.03% and a positive return on equity of 8.06%. The firm had revenue of $482.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.99 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ashland will post 3.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st were given a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.5%. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ashland’s payout ratio is -10.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 59.0% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Ashland during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Ashland by 38.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,000 after buying an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in Ashland by 398.3% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 1,167 shares during the period. Finally, TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in Ashland by 535.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,348 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

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.