Ashland (NYSE:ASH) Given New $84.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) had its target price lifted by analysts at BMO Capital Markets from $83.00 to $84.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “market perform” rating on the basic materials company’s stock. BMO Capital Markets’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 12.13% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on ASH. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ashland from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ashland from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.00.

Ashland Trading Down 1.3 %

Ashland stock traded down $0.96 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $74.91. The company had a trading volume of 101,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 419,832. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. Ashland has a 1-year low of $74.75 and a 1-year high of $102.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $81.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.86.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.28 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $522.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $524.07 million. Ashland had a net margin of 7.95% and a return on equity of 7.43%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ashland news, VP Eric N. Boni sold 451 shares of Ashland stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.07, for a total transaction of $35,209.57. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 14,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,107,188.74. This trade represents a 3.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Robin E. Lampkin sold 868 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 2,883 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $224,585.70. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.69% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ashland

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ASH. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in Ashland during the third quarter valued at $3,134,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in Ashland during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $713,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in Ashland by 2.3% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 671,948 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $63,492,000 after acquiring an additional 14,938 shares in the last quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ashland during the second quarter worth about $2,442,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. grew its holdings in Ashland by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. now owns 581,204 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $54,918,000 after buying an additional 13,577 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.