Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.42

Key Points

• Ashland Inc. announced a quarterly dividend of $0.42, with a dividend yield of 3.2%, indicating healthy earnings coverage with a payout ratio of 34.8%.
• The company's stock price fell to $52.08, with recent earnings showing a miss at $1.04 EPS compared to the consensus estimate of $1.15, representing a year-over-year revenue decline of 14.9%.
• Institutional investors own 93.95% of Ashland's stock, with notable investments by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services and Private Trust Co. NA, reflecting strong institutional confidence in the company.

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 8th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.415 per share by the basic materials company on Monday, September 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th.

Ashland has a payout ratio of 34.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Ashland to earn $5.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.66 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.4%.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE:ASH traded up $1.40 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $52.99. The stock had a trading volume of 176,961 shares, compared to its average volume of 664,793. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.73 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $54.48. Ashland has a 52 week low of $45.21 and a 52 week high of $90.61. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.15 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $463.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $479.34 million. Ashland had a negative net margin of 46.01% and a positive return on equity of 6.82%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 14.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.49 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ASH. Mizuho set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ashland from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Ashland from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ashland from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Ashland from $71.00 to $67.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $65.60.

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.