Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH)’s share price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $72.25 and last traded at $68.5150, with a volume of 649894 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $66.38.

Ashland News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Ashland this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Activist agreement may increase strategic pressure: Ashland appointed two independent directors and created a Capital Allocation Advisory Committee under a cooperation agreement with Ancora Holdings. The development may renew speculation that Ashland could pursue asset sales, a broader restructuring or a potential sale of the company. Ashland announces appointment of two new directors as part of Cooperation Agreement with stockholder Ancora
• Positive Sentiment: BMO upgraded Ashland to “strong buy” from “hold,” providing a fresh positive catalyst and signaling increased confidence in the company’s valuation or operational recovery. Zacks report on Ashland analyst upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue and volumes improved: Fiscal Q3 sales rose 7% year over year to $497 million, with volumes up 6% across all business units. Life Sciences sales increased 11% and Intermediates sales rose 12%, while operating cash flow reached $121 million and ongoing free cash flow totaled $103 million. Ashland reaffirmed fiscal 2026 sales guidance of $1.835 billion to $1.870 billion and adjusted EBITDA guidance of $385 million to $400 million. Ashland reports third quarter 2026 results
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation remains debated: One analysis estimates Ashland could be approximately 19% undervalued after the quarter, but the cited analyst price-target median of $63.50 is below the recent trading level, limiting near-term upside according to some estimates. Ashland could be undervalued after mixed quarter
• Negative Sentiment: Underlying earnings were weaker: Adjusted EPS was $1.02, narrowly below expectations, while adjusted EBITDA declined 4% to $109 million. Specialty Additives and Intermediates earnings fell, reflecting operating issues, inflation and lower production rates. Ashland also reduced its adjusted EPS growth outlook to low-to-mid-single digits from mid-to-high-single digits because of a higher tax rate. Ashland Q3 2026 earnings call summary

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ASH shares. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research note on Thursday. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ashland in a research note on Monday. Weiss Ratings lowered Ashland from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ashland from $60.00 to $50.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Seaport Research Partners upgraded shares of Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.40.

Ashland Trading Down 0.2%

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $60.02. The stock has a market cap of $3.33 billion, a PE ratio of 63.82, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 3.06, a quick ratio of 1.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.06). Ashland had a return on equity of 8.01% and a net margin of 2.82%.The business had revenue of $482.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.99 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 3.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st were issued a $0.42 dividend. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 1st. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. Ashland’s payout ratio is currently -10.89%.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Ashland by 59.0% in the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Ashland in the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ashland by 38.0% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $66,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its position in shares of Ashland by 535.8% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,348 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of Ashland by 398.3% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 1,167 shares during the last quarter. 93.95% of the stock is owned by 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.