Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Price Target Cut to $100.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $112.00 to $100.00 in a report issued on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on ASH. Mizuho raised their price objective on Ashland from $101.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ashland from an underweight rating to a neutral rating and cut their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ashland from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. StockNews.com lowered Ashland from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ashland from $97.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $104.63.

Ashland Price Performance

NYSE:ASH opened at $82.07 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.94, a current ratio of 3.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $94.96. The stock has a market cap of $4.11 billion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.90. Ashland has a 52 week low of $70.82 and a 52 week high of $102.50.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $577.08 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 9.09%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ASH. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 274.4% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 495,748 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,797,000 after buying an additional 363,328 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 17.9% during the fourth quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,656,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $139,673,000 after buying an additional 252,104 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 9.4% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,314,387 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $218,686,000 after buying an additional 198,913 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ashland during the second quarter valued at approximately $14,346,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ashland by 407.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 139,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,202,000 after buying an additional 112,169 shares during the period. 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.