Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) hit a new 52-week high and low on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $79.68 and last traded at $78.99, with a volume of 15166 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $78.71.
ASH has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. TheStreet upgraded Ashland from a “c+” rating to a “b” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 2nd. Jefferies Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Credit Suisse Group set a $86.00 price target on Ashland and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 11th. Longbow Research upgraded Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 26th. Finally, Seaport Global Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Ashland presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $84.50.
Get Ashland alerts:The company has a quick ratio of 1.49, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73. The company has a market cap of $4.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.33, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.13.
Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.06 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.19. The company had revenue of $974.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $955.39 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 5.77% and a negative net margin of 0.62%. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.71 EPS. equities research analysts forecast that Ashland Inc. will post 3.44 EPS for the current year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 1st will be paid a $0.225 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 31st. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.89%.
Ashland announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, March 20th that permits the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the basic materials company to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.
In other Ashland news, VP Keith C. Silverman sold 1,678 shares of Ashland stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.02, for a total transaction of $117,493.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,358 shares in the company, valued at approximately $95,087.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.14% of the company’s stock.
A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. State of Alaska Department of Revenue acquired a new position in Ashland during the 4th quarter valued at about $263,000. Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 331.1% during the 4th quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 25,676 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,828,000 after buying an additional 19,720 shares in the last quarter. Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Boussard & Gavaudan Investment Management LLP now owns 113,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,085,000 after buying an additional 9,138 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 54,649 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,891,000 after buying an additional 770 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in shares of Ashland by 57.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 3,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 1,222 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.46% of the company’s stock.
Ashland Company Profile
Ashland Global Holdings Inc provides specialty chemical solutions worldwide. Its Specialty Ingredients segment provides products, technologies, and resources for solving formulation and product-performance challenges. It offers solutions using natural, synthetic, and semisynthetic polymers derived from plant and seed extract, cellulose ethers, vinyl pyrrolidones, and acrylic polymers, as well as polyester and polyurethane-based adhesives.
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