Brokerages Set Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Price Target at $101.00

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $101.00.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ashland from $70.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Ashland in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ashland from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Ashland from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 14th.

Ashland Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of ASH stock opened at $95.99 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $94.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.67. Ashland has a twelve month low of $70.82 and a twelve month high of $104.64. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 1.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market cap of $4.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.47 and a beta of 0.92.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The basic materials company reported $0.45 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by $0.24. Ashland had a net margin of 7.62% and a return on equity of 5.95%. The company had revenue of $473.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $478.69 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.97 earnings per share. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ashland will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 15th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were paid a dividend of $0.385 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.60%. Ashland’s payout ratio is 50.49%.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASH. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 9.8% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 3,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $361,000 after buying an additional 326 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 17.4% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 6,917 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $681,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 4.2% during the first quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 5,523 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $543,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the period. Citigroup Inc. increased its stake in Ashland by 3.2% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 8,142 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $801,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Ashland by 25.0% in the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 34,207 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,366,000 after purchasing an additional 6,835 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Company Profile

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.