Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $103.50.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ASH shares. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 193.1% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Ashland by 610.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 540 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Ashland by 133.8% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 650 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 372 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in Ashland by 8,211.1% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $71,000 after acquiring an additional 739 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ashland in the second quarter worth about $71,000. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ashland Stock Performance

Ashland stock opened at $84.81 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.14 billion, a PE ratio of 28.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $86.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Ashland has a twelve month low of $70.82 and a twelve month high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.04. Ashland had a net margin of 7.01% and a return on equity of 5.98%. The firm had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $577.08 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.23 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.49 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st were given a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 30th. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.92%.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions.