Ashland (ASH) Stock Price, News & Analysis

Company Overview

Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) is a global specialty materials company that develops and manufactures functional ingredients, additives and other products used in a range of consumer and industrial applications. Its products are designed to improve the performance, appearance, stability and processing characteristics of materials and finished goods.

The company serves markets including pharmaceuticals, personal care, coatings, construction, food and beverage, specialty chemicals and other industrial sectors. Its portfolio includes pharmaceutical and nutritional ingredients, personal-care ingredients, specialty additives for coatings and building materials, and performance materials used in adhesives and related applications.

Ashland traces its history to 1924, when it was established as Ashland Refining Company in Kentucky. The company has since evolved from an energy-focused business into a specialty materials manufacturer serving customers in North America, Europe, Asia and other international markets. Ashland is headquartered in Wilmington, Delaware.

Key Stats

• Today's Range: $69.95 to $71.07
• 50-Day Range: $68.06 to $76.92
• 52-Week Range: $47.12 to $78.25
• Volume: 408,766 shs
• Average Volume: 691,248 shs
• Market Capitalization: $3.23 billion
• P/E Ratio: 61.95
• Dividend Yield: 2.38%
• Price Target: $73.60
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy

Ashland Stock Analysis - MarketRank™

Ashland scored higher than 56% of companies evaluated by MarketBeat, and ranked 114th out of 229 stocks in the materials sector. Scores are calculated by averaging available category scores, with extra weight given to analysis and valuation.

Analyst's Opinion

• Score: 2.6 / 5
• Analyst Rating: Moderate Buy

Consensus Rating

Ashland has received a consensus rating of Moderate Buy. The company's average rating score is 2.58, and is based on no strong buy ratings, 7 buy ratings, 5 hold ratings, and no sell ratings.

Upside/Downside

The consensus price target for Ashland is close to its current price, suggesting limited near-term upside or downside.

Amount of Analyst Coverage

Ashland has been the subject of 9 research reports in the past 90 days, demonstrating strong analyst interest in this stock.

Earnings and Valuation

• Score: 1.9 / 5
• Proj. Earnings Growth: 18.16%

Earnings Growth

Earnings for Ashland are expected to grow by 18.16% in the coming year, from $3.58 to $4.23 per share.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. the Market

The P/E ratio of Ashland is 61.95, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the market average P/E ratio of about 44.73.

Price to Earnings Ratio vs. Sector

The P/E ratio of Ashland is 61.95, which means that it is trading at a more expensive P/E ratio than the Materials sector average P/E ratio of about 24.36.

Price to Earnings Growth Ratio

Ashland has a PEG Ratio of 1.79. PEG Ratios above 1 indicate that a company could be overvalued.

Price to Book Value per Share Ratio

Ashland has a P/B Ratio of 1.70. P/B Ratios below 3 indicates that a company is reasonably valued with respect to its assets and liabilities.

Short Interest

• Score: 1.0 / 5
• Short Interest Level: Bearish

Percentage of Shares Shorted

10.22% of the float of Ashland has been sold short.

Short Interest Ratio / Days to Cover

Ashland has a short interest ratio ("days to cover") of 6.69.

Change versus previous month

Short interest in Ashland has recently increased by 5.00%, indicating that investor sentiment is decreasing.

Dividend

• Score: 3.3 / 5
• Dividend Strength: Strong

Dividend Yield

Ashland pays a meaningful dividend of 2.38%, higher than the bottom 25% of all stocks that pay dividends.

Dividend Growth

Ashland has been increasing its dividend for 16 years.

Dividend Coverage

The dividend payout ratio of Ashland is 147.37%. Payout ratios above 75% are not desirable because they may not be sustainable.

Dividend Sustainability

Based on earnings estimates, Ashland will have a dividend payout ratio of 39.72% next year. This indicates that Ashland will be able to sustain or increase its dividend.

News and Social Media

• Score: 2.0 / 5
• News Sentiment: 0.15

News Sentiment

Ashland has a news sentiment score of 0.15. This score is calculated as an average of sentiment of articles about the company over the last seven days and ranges from 2 (good news) to -2 (bad news). This is a lower news sentiment than the 0.43 average news sentiment score of Materials companies.

News Coverage This Week

MarketBeat has tracked 13 news articles for Ashland this week, compared to 5 articles on an average week.

Search Interest

Only 1 people have searched for ASH on MarketBeat in the last 30 days. This is a decrease of -67% compared to the previous 30 days.

Company Ownership

• Score: 0.8 / 5
• Insider Trading: N/A

Insider Buying vs. Insider Selling

In the past three months, Ashland insiders have not sold or bought any company stock.

Percentage Held by Insiders

1.26% of the stock of Ashland is held by insiders.

Percentage Held by Institutions

93.95% of the stock of Ashland is held by institutions. High institutional ownership can be a signal of strong market trust in this company.

Company Calendar

• Last Earnings: 4/28/2026
• Record date for 9/15 Dividend: 9/01/2026
• Ex-Dividend for 9/15 Dividend: 9/01/2026
• Dividend Payable: 9/15/2026
• Today: 10/09/2026
• Next Earnings (Estimated): 11/03/2026
• Fiscal Year End: 9/30/2027

Industry, Sector and Symbol

• Stock Exchange: NYSE
• Sector: Materials
• Industry: Chemicals
• Sub-Industry: Specialty Chemicals
• Current Symbol: NYSE:ASH
• CIK: 1674862
• Web: www.ashland.com
• Phone: (304) 995-3000
• Fax: 859-815-5188
• Employees: 2,900
• Year Founded: 1924

Price Target and Rating

• Average Price Target for Ashland: $73.60
• High Price Target: $85.00
• Low Price Target: $56.00
• Potential Upside/Downside: +4.2%
• Consensus Rating: Moderate Buy
• Rating Score (0-4): 2.58
• Research Coverage: 12 Analysts

Profitability

• EPS (Trailing Twelve Months): $1.14
• Trailing P/E Ratio: 61.95
• Forward P/E Ratio: 19.73
• P/E Growth: 1.79
• Net Income: -$845 million
• Net Margins: 2.82%
• Pretax Margin: 6.84%
• Return on Equity: 8.03%
• Return on Assets: 3.31%

Debt

• Debt-to-Equity Ratio: 0.73
• Current Ratio: 3.05
• Quick Ratio: 1.89

Sales & Book Value

• Annual Sales: $1.82 billion
• Price / Sales: 1.77
• Cash Flow: $24.18 per share
• Price / Cash Flow: 2.92
• Book Value: $41.66 per share
• Price / Book: 1.70

Miscellaneous

• Outstanding Shares: 45,810,000
• Free Float: 45,229,000
• Market Cap: $3.23 billion
• Optionable: Optionable
• Beta: 0.40