Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Ashland from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Ashland in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ashland from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Ashland in a research report on Monday, September 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Ashland from $73.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.43.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE:ASH opened at $50.76 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.47 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $51.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.29. Ashland has a twelve month low of $45.21 and a twelve month high of $88.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, June 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $509.00 million for the quarter. Ashland had a negative net margin of 46.01% and a positive return on equity of 6.82%. Ashland has set its FY 2022 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ashland will post 4.27 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ashland by 284.3% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 3,454,646 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $172,318,000 after buying an additional 2,555,585 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in Ashland by 3.0% in the 2nd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,847,326 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $143,164,000 after buying an additional 84,086 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in Ashland by 33.1% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,291,157 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $132,383,000 after buying an additional 569,740 shares during the last quarter. Cooperman Leon G raised its position in Ashland by 16.6% in the 1st quarter. Cooperman Leon G now owns 1,694,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,446,000 after buying an additional 240,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Ashland by 7.4% in the 1st quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,683,627 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $99,822,000 after buying an additional 115,811 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc provides additives and specialty ingredients in the North and Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and internationally. It operates through Life Sciences, Personal Care, Specialty Additives, and Intermediates segments. The Life Sciences segment offers pharmaceutical solutions, including controlled release polymers, disintegrants, tablet coatings, thickeners, solubilizers, and tablet binders; nutrition solutions, such as thickeners, stabilizers, emulsifiers, and additives; and nutraceutical solutions comprising products for weight management, joint comfort, stomach and intestinal health, sports nutrition, and general wellness, as well as custom formulation, toll processing, and particle engineering solutions.