Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $65.86 and last traded at $65.77, with a volume of 119385 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $62.50.

Key Headlines Impacting Ashland

Here are the key news stories impacting Ashland this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Ashland said its board and management remain committed to sustainable value creation, and it plans to engage constructively with Ancora Alternatives and other shareholders, which may ease activism-related concerns. Ashland responds to investor presentation by Ancora Alternatives LLC
• Positive Sentiment: Recent analyst activity remains constructive overall, with multiple buy/outperform ratings and a median price target around the upper-$60s, suggesting some Wall Street support for the stock.
• Neutral Sentiment: Ashland recently reported quarterly EPS of $0.91 versus $0.97 expected and revenue of $482 million versus $485.6 million expected, a slight miss that does not appear severe enough on its own to drive a major move, but it also did not provide a strong fundamental boost.
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks added Ashland to its Rank #5 Strong Sell list, which can weigh on sentiment by signaling increased caution from traders and investors. New Strong Sell Stocks for June 10th
• Negative Sentiment: The Ancora presentation itself implies some shareholder dissatisfaction with Ashland’s current performance or strategic direction, adding pressure for the company to demonstrate faster value creation.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ASH. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Seaport Research Partners upgraded Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Argus dropped their price target on Ashland from $70.00 to $56.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ashland from $70.00 to $65.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $58.00 price target on Ashland in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.67.

Ashland Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $56.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.01. The firm has a market cap of $3.00 billion, a PE ratio of -4.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 0.43. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $482.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.61 million. Ashland had a positive return on equity of 8.06% and a negative net margin of 39.03%.Ashland’s revenue was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.99 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ashland Inc. will post 3.58 EPS for the current year.

Ashland Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 1st will be paid a dividend of $0.42 per share. This is a positive change from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 1st. This represents a $1.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.6%. Ashland’s dividend payout ratio is presently -10.89%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ASH. Rothschild Investment LLC raised its position in shares of Ashland by 3,673.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 566 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 551 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ashland by 59.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 671 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Aster Capital Management DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Ashland during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $57,000. 93.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.