Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $102.00.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ashland from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ashland

In other news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total transaction of $67,617.20. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 2,883 shares in the company, valued at $224,585.70. This represents a 23.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total transaction of $35,209.57. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,107,188.74. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Ashland by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,773,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $262,037,000 after purchasing an additional 86,977 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Ashland by 12.3% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,598,602 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $226,000,000 after buying an additional 284,215 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of Ashland by 6.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,737,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $151,131,000 after buying an additional 103,517 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 6,127.2% during the third quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 880,459 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,574,000 after purchasing an additional 866,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ashland by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 827,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,316 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Stock Performance

ASH stock opened at $72.14 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.34. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.87. Ashland has a 12 month low of $70.67 and a 12 month high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $522.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.07 million. Ashland had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 7.43%. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 4.52 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were issued a dividend of $0.405 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.25%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.36%.

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.