Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Price Target Cut to $50.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo cut its price target on Ashland from $60 to $50 and kept an "equal weight" rating, with the new target implying roughly a 2.9% downside from the then-current price.
• Analyst coverage is mixed—six Buys, four Holds and one Sell—resulting in an overall average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $65.
• Ashland reported Q results of $0.91 EPS (missing the $0.97 consensus) on $964 million in revenue, while the stock traded up about 4.8% to $51.49 during the session.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) had its price target reduced by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $60.00 to $50.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the basic materials company's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective suggests a potential downside of 2.90% from the company's current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Monday, April 20th. Evercore set a $62.00 target price on Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $73.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Argus reduced their target price on Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $65.00.

Ashland Trading Up 4.8%

Shares of NYSE ASH traded up $2.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $51.49. 277,110 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 683,953. Ashland has a 1 year low of $46.29 and a 1 year high of $65.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.41, a PEG ratio of 0.99 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $55.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.48.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Ashland had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a positive return on equity of 7.58%. The company had revenue of $964.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $485.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.99 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up .6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC acquired a new position in Ashland in the 1st quarter worth about $394,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Ashland by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 9,388 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC bought a new stake in Ashland during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $386,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Ashland by 13.2% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 7,190 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $400,000 after purchasing an additional 836 shares during the period. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Ashland in the 1st quarter worth approximately $740,000. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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