Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.42

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, November 11th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 1st will be given a dividend of $0.42 per share by the basic materials company on Tuesday, December 15th. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 1st.

Ashland has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 16 consecutive years. Ashland has a dividend payout ratio of 35.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ashland to earn $4.68 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 35.9%.

Ashland Stock Down 0.2%

Ashland stock opened at $76.68 on Thursday. Ashland has a 52 week low of $48.00 and a 52 week high of $79.50. The stock has a market cap of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 958.47, a PEG ratio of 2.00 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $71.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.38. The company has a current ratio of 2.96, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 3rd. The basic materials company reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $996.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $501.76 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 0.21%. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ashland Company Profile

Ashland Inc. is a specialty chemicals company that develops and supplies ingredients and additives for businesses across a range of industries. Its products include pharmaceutical ingredients and excipients, personal care ingredients, and specialty additives used in coatings, construction materials and other applications. The company traces its roots to 1924, when it was established as Ashland Refining Company in Kentucky. Over time, Ashland shifted from its origins in oil refining toward specialty chemicals and ingredients.