Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Trading 7.5% Higher – Here’s What Happened

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)’s stock price traded up 7.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $62.48 and last traded at $61.7980. 1,116,902 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 43% from the average session volume of 781,139 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.46.

Trending Headlines about Ashland

Here are the key news stories impacting Ashland this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ashland said it is willing to engage constructively with activist investor Ancora Alternatives after Ancora released a presentation pushing for changes, including potentially a sale of the company. The response signals the board is open to shareholder input and is actively evaluating strategy and capital allocation, which can raise takeover or restructuring speculation. Article: Ashland responds to investor presentation by Ancora Alternatives LLC
• Positive Sentiment: Investor interest in Ashland has increased after Ancora built a stake and publicly pressed for strategic action, which can fuel expectations for operational changes, asset sales, or a broader valuation re-rating. Article: Exclusive-Activist Ancora builds stake in Ashland, pushes for sale
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple non-material local news items mentioning “Ashland” are unrelated to Ashland Inc. and are unlikely to affect the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks added ASH to its Rank #5 (Strong Sell) list, reflecting a cautious near-term outlook and potentially pressuring sentiment. Article: New Strong Sell Stocks for June 10th

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings cut Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Seaport Research Partners raised Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ashland from $66.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus reduced their price objective on Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.67.

Ashland Stock Up 1.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 3.06 and a quick ratio of 1.78. The company has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.25, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $56.38 and a 200-day moving average of $57.90.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $482.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.61 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 8.06% and a negative net margin of 39.03%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.99 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a $0.42 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Ashland’s payout ratio is -10.89%.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASH. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Ashland by 18.7% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 46,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,747,000 after buying an additional 7,309 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in Ashland by 6.3% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ashland by 49.4% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 284,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $16,865,000 after buying an additional 94,067 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ashland by 1.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 387,132 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,953,000 after buying an additional 6,245 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Ashland by 10.1% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 152,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,061,000 after buying an additional 13,989 shares during the period. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ashland Company Profile

Ashland Inc is a global specialty chemicals company that develops, manufactures and supplies a broad range of performance and process-critical additives, ingredients and technologies. Its portfolio spans performance additives for coatings, adhesives and sealants; specialty ingredients for personal care and pharmaceutical applications; and process aids used in water treatment and other industrial processes. Ashland aims to address customer challenges by delivering tailored solutions that improve product performance, processing efficiency and sustainability outcomes.

Founded in 1924 as the Ashland Oil & Refining Company, the firm gradually expanded into the specialty chemicals sector over the second half of the 20th century.