Argus Lowers Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Price Target to $56.00

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its price objective decreased by investment analysts at Argus from $70.00 to $56.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. Argus’ price target points to a potential upside of 10.25% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ashland from $51.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “buy” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, February 4th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ashland from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Ashland from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 5th. Six 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, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.11.

Ashland Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of ASH stock opened at $50.79 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.42. Ashland has a 12-month low of $45.21 and a 12-month high of $65.64. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $59.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $55.51.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $386.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $401.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in ASH. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ashland by 284.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $172,318,000 after acquiring an additional 2,555,585 shares during the last quarter. Standard Investments LLC bought a new stake in Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth about $107,318,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Ashland by 13,240.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,736,173 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $101,861,000 after purchasing an additional 1,723,159 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 775.6% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,900,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $111,473,000 after purchasing an additional 1,682,994 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ashland by 1,080,682.0% in the 4th quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,437,440 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $84,335,000 after purchasing an additional 1,437,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Ashland this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ashland said it is implementing global pricing actions across its Life Sciences, Intermediates, Personal Care and Specialty Additives portfolios to manage market volatility and cost pressures; the company reaffirmed fiscal‑2026 sales and EBITDA guidance, which likely reassured investors about near‑term profitability. Ashland implements pricing actions across product portfolio in response to market volatility (GlobeNewswire)
• Neutral Sentiment: Several of the other articles in the news feed refer to the city of Ashland (local sports, weather, community events) and are unrelated to Ashland Inc.’s business performance; these are unlikely to affect the company’s stock. Example: local protest coverage. No Kings Protest to return to Ashland County (USA Today)
• Negative Sentiment: Argus trimmed its price target on ASH from $70 to $56 (while retaining a buy rating), which reduces upside expectations and could cap near‑term gains despite the company’s pricing moves. Argus lowers price target (Benzinga)

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.