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

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $102.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ashland

In other news, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total transaction of $35,209.57. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,188.74. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in Ashland by 3.2% in 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 during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of 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 worth $226,000,000 after buying an additional 284,215 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ashland by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,737,738 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $151,131,000 after acquiring an additional 103,517 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Ashland by 6,127.2% during the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 880,459 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $76,574,000 after acquiring an additional 866,320 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $71.54 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.37 billion, a PE ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.87. Ashland has a 1-year low of $68.14 and a 1-year high of $102.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $74.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.14.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released 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). Ashland had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The company had revenue of $522.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $524.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.41 earnings per share. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 4.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Ashland Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Shareholders of record on Sunday, December 1st were paid a $0.405 dividend. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.26%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Ashland’s payout ratio 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.