Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Given New $110.00 Price Target at Mizuho

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its price objective lifted by Mizuho from $101.00 to $110.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Mizuho currently has a buy rating on the basic materials company’s stock.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on Ashland in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set an outperform rating and a $108.00 price target for the company. TheStreet upgraded Ashland from a c+ rating to a b- rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ashland from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $126.00 in a report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com upgraded Ashland from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ashland from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating and raised their target price for the company from $100.00 to $112.00 in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ashland currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $102.89.

Ashland Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:ASH opened at $94.50 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.98 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a quick ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 3.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44. Ashland has a 12-month low of $70.82 and a 12-month high of $100.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.60.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.14 by $0.13. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.95% and a net margin of 7.62%. The business had revenue of $575.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $574.64 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ashland will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ashland

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Ashland by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,658,237 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $224,118,000 after acquiring an additional 62,182 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in Ashland by 7.3% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 2,424,801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $204,435,000 after acquiring an additional 164,468 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Ashland by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,953,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $159,522,000 after acquiring an additional 248,591 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Ashland by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,671,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $140,932,000 after acquiring an additional 256,828 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its position in Ashland by 17.9% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 1,656,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $139,673,000 after acquiring an additional 252,104 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.95% of the company’s stock.

Ashland Company Profile

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.