Ashland Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.41 (NYSE:ASH)

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, January 21st,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Saturday, March 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.405 per share by the basic materials company on Saturday, March 15th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th.

Ashland has raised its dividend by an average of 10.8% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend every year for the last 15 years. Ashland has a payout ratio of 30.2% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ashland to earn $5.31 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.62 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.5%.

Ashland Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Ashland stock opened at $73.23 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.00. Ashland has a 52-week low of $68.14 and a 52-week high of $102.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.33, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.28 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $524.07 million. Ashland had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 4.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ashland from $83.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ashland from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ashland currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $77.90, for a total value of $67,617.20. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $224,585.70. This trade represents a 23.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total value of $35,209.57. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,182 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,107,188.74. This represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.02% 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.