Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) to Issue $0.42 Quarterly Dividend

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH – Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 7th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 1st will be given a dividend of 0.42 per share by the basic materials company on Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.3%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 1st.

Ashland has raised its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 16 years. Ashland has a dividend payout ratio of 35.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ashland to earn $4.23 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 39.7%.

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Ashland Price Performance

Shares of ASH stock opened at $74.21 on Friday. Ashland has a 12 month low of $46.29 and a 12 month high of $78.25. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 65.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $69.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $61.68. The company has a current ratio of 3.05, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.73.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ASH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Research Partners raised shares of Ashland from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ashland from $68.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ashland from $75.00 to $83.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ashland from $65.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ashland in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ashland currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $73.90.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on ASH

Ashland Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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