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

Key Points

• Ashland declared a quarterly dividend of $0.42, payable June 15 to shareholders of record on June 1, equating to a $1.66 annualized payout and a ~3.2% yield (reported as a 1.2% increase from the prior quarter).
• Dividend appears sustainable: Ashland has increased its dividend annually for 16 consecutive years, carries a payout ratio around 34.8%, and analysts forecast ~$4.59 EPS next year (implying a projected payout ratio near 36%).
• Recent results and market view are mixed: Q1 EPS of $0.91 missed estimates, the company reported a negative net margin (~-39%) despite $964M revenue, and MarketBeat shows an average analyst rating of "Hold" with a $62.78 price target.

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 5th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be given a dividend of 0.42 per share by the basic materials company on Monday, June 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 1st. This is a 1.2% increase from Ashland's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42.

Ashland has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Ashland has a payout ratio of 34.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ashland to earn $4.59 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 36.2%.

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Ashland Stock Down 0.5%

ASH opened at $52.25 on Wednesday. Ashland has a twelve month low of $46.29 and a twelve month high of $65.64. The company has a quick ratio of 1.78, a current ratio of 3.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $55.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.59. The company has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a PE ratio of -3.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 0.40.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Ashland had a positive return on equity of 8.06% and a negative net margin of 39.03%.The company had revenue of $964.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.99 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ashland will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on ASH. UBS Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $73.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ashland from a "sell (d)" rating to a "sell (d-)" rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of Ashland from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Argus cut their price objective on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ashland presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.78.

Ashland Company Profile

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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