Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $74.10

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $74.10.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ASH. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Ashland in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Ashland from $75.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $75.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ashland in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ashland from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 2nd.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ASH. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ashland in the 2nd quarter worth $376,376,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ashland by 648,370.7% during the second quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,945,412 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $128,183,000 after buying an additional 1,945,112 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management LLC Investment Advisor bought a new position in Ashland during the second quarter valued at about $105,471,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new position in Ashland during the second quarter valued at about $26,256,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Ashland during the second quarter worth about $21,943,000. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ashland Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of ASH stock opened at $74.72 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a current ratio of 3.05. Ashland has a 1 year low of $47.12 and a 1 year high of $78.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $71.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a PE ratio of 65.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.90 and a beta of 0.40.

Ashland Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st were paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This represents a $1.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 1st. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 147.37%.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc is a global specialty materials company that develops and supplies functional ingredients, additives and solutions for industrial and consumer markets. Its products are used to enhance the performance, stability, texture, appearance and processing of finished goods.

The company serves a range of industries, including pharmaceuticals, personal care, coatings, construction, food and beverages, adhesives and specialty chemicals. Its portfolio includes polymers, cellulose-based ingredients, rheology modifiers, film-forming agents, preservatives and other specialty additives used in applications such as drug delivery, skin and hair care, architectural coatings and building materials.

Ashland traces its roots to 1924, when it was established as Ashland Refining Company in Kentucky.