Argus Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Stock Price

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its target price decreased by equities research analysts at Argus from $70.00 to $56.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Argus’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 10.83% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on ASH. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ashland from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $61.00 to $71.00 in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ashland from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. Finally, Evercore set a $62.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.11.

Ashland Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ASH traded up $1.72 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $50.53. The stock had a trading volume of 66,698 shares, compared to its average volume of 680,239. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74. The company has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.42. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $60.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.57. Ashland has a fifty-two week low of $45.21 and a fifty-two week high of $65.64.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.03. Ashland had a negative net margin of 38.26% and a positive return on equity of 7.58%. The business had revenue of $386.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $401.42 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.28 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ashland will post 4.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 18.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 46,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,747,000 after purchasing an additional 7,309 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 6.3% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 3,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in Ashland by 49.4% in the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 284,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,865,000 after buying an additional 94,067 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in Ashland by 1.6% during the 1st 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 boosted its position in Ashland by 10.1% during the 1st 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

About Ashland

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.