Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Given Consensus Rating of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• Ashland carries an average analyst rating of "Hold" from 11 firms (1 sell / 4 hold / 6 buy) with a mean 12‑month target price of $66.11.
• The company beat Q4 EPS estimates ($0.26 vs. $0.23) but revenue fell 4.7% year‑over‑year, and Ashland shows a negative net margin (-38.26%) and a negative PE (-3.73).
• Ashland pays a quarterly dividend of $0.415 (annualized $1.66, ~2.9% yield) and about 93.95% of the shares are held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $66.1111.

Several equities analysts recently commented on ASH shares. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ashland from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ashland from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 5th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ashland from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th.

Ashland Price Performance

NYSE ASH opened at $56.39 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.58 billion, a PE ratio of -3.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.95 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $57.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $55.69. Ashland has a 52 week low of $46.29 and a 52 week high of $65.64.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $386.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $401.42 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a positive return on equity of 7.58%. Ashland's revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.28 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ashland will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, March 15th. Stockholders of record on Sunday, March 1st were paid a $0.415 dividend. This represents a $1.66 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 27th. Ashland's payout ratio is -10.99%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Citigroup Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 51.1% in the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 182,267 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,732,000 after purchasing an additional 61,673 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in Ashland in the 3rd quarter worth $3,067,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ashland in the third quarter valued at about $10,397,000. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ashland by 40.4% during the third quarter. Altrinsic Global Advisors LLC now owns 199,376 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,552,000 after acquiring an additional 57,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland during the third quarter worth about $3,395,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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