Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Brokerages

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) has earned an average rating of "Hold" from the five ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $68.60.

ASH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Ashland from $85.00 to $74.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Ashland from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Ashland from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho set a $60.00 price objective on Ashland in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ASH. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,928,924 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $352,221,000 after purchasing an additional 66,530 shares during the last quarter. Eminence Capital LP increased its position in Ashland by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Eminence Capital LP now owns 2,860,471 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $204,409,000 after buying an additional 212,916 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,818,695 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $201,423,000 after buying an additional 44,018 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,806,922 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $200,583,000 after acquiring an additional 208,320 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 33.1% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,291,157 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $132,383,000 after acquiring an additional 569,740 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company's stock.

Ashland Trading Down 4.2%

Shares of ASH opened at $49.52 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $50.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $60.67. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.27 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -75.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.52. Ashland has a 1-year low of $45.21 and a 1-year high of $98.99.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $0.99 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.10 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $479.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $514.79 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 7.41% and a negative net margin of 1.12%. The business's revenue was down 16.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, June 1st will be issued a dividend of $0.415 per share. This is a positive change from Ashland's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.66 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 30th. Ashland's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -69.17%.

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.

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