According to a piece of writing released on Thursday, research analysts at StockNews.com have reportedly started covering Ashland (NYSE: ASH).
The corporation has assigned a rating of “hold” to the shares of the company that operates in the basic materials industry.
The most recent quarterly earnings report for Ashland, publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol ASH, was released on February 1st.
The business that deals in fundamental materials announced a quarterly profit of $0.97 per share, which is $0.02 higher than the consensus estimate of $0.95 per share compiled by industry professionals.
Ashland generated a return on equity of 9.82% and had a net margin of 38.23% at the end of the fiscal year.
Even though market watchers anticipated that the company would bring in sales of $516.58 million for the quarter, the actual amount it brought in was $525 million.
The company reported a profit of $0.88 per share for the quarter, compared to the results it achieved during the same period the year before.
During the third quarter, compared to the same period last year, Ashland saw a year-over-year increase in revenue of 2.5%.
According to the forecasts developed by financial experts, Ashland’s current financial year is anticipated to result in earnings of 6.36 cents per share.
When trading started on Thursday, an individual share of Ashland was $95.36.
The price of the stock’s simple moving average over the previous 200 days is $104.40, whereas the price of the stock’s simple moving average over the previous 50 days is $105.37.
The ratio of the stock’s price to its earnings per share is 5.92, and the stock has a beta value of 1.00.
The total value of the company’s shares on the market is $5.18 billion.
The price that was recorded as being the lowest in Ashland over the previous year was $90.89, while the price that was recorded as being the highest was $114.36.
The values include a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 3.72, and a quick ratio of 2.16.
Every one of these proportions and ratios is exactly as it should be.
ASH has been discussed in various additional reports since it was first discovered.
The “hold” recommendation on Ashland shares was upgraded to a “buy” recommendation in a research report distributed on January 11th, 2019, and the target price was set at $131.00.
In a report published on February 2nd, BMO Capital Markets raised its “outperform” rating on Ashland and raised its price objective on the stock from $135.00 to $136.00.
In a research note published on January 26th, Mizuho lowered their target price on Ashland shares from $140.00 to $136.00 while maintaining their “buy” recommendation.
The rating that JPMorgan Chase & Co has given Ashland has been changed from “neutral” to “underweight,” Simultaneously, they have increased their price objective from $104.00 to $105.00.
Both of these changes took place on February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ashland shares from $118.00 to $115.00 and rated the stock as “equal weight” in a research report published on Thursday, February 2nd.
This was the final change, but certainly not the least important one. One of the research analysts covering the company has recommended selling shares of the company’s stock.
In contrast, two other analysts have maintained a hold rating, and five analysts have maintained a buy rating on the company’s stock.
According to data that Bloomberg compiled, the company has been given an overall recommendation of “Moderate Buy,” The price objective that has been generally agreed upon is $128.13.
The company’s stock has been the subject of recent transactions involving purchases and sales by several institutional investors.
These dealings have only just been completed.
The amount of Ashland stock that Credit Suisse AG owned as of the end of the second quarter was 4.9% higher than it was at the beginning of the quarter. Following the purchase of 2,221 additional shares during the most recent quarter, Credit Suisse AG now owns 47,669 shares in the company that deals in primary materials.
The current market value of these shares is $4,912,000.
During the third quarter, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC achieved a 34.1% increase in the proportion of Ashland shares it owned.
After the previous accounting period came to an end, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a total of 46,808 shares in the fundamental materials company.
These shares are worth a combined total of $4,445,000.
During the third quarter, Renaissance Technologies LLC made a brand new investment in Ashland with a total value of $9,523,000.
This transaction took place relatively recently.
The amount of Ashland stock that Credit Suisse AG owned as of the end of the second quarter was 4.9% higher than it was at the beginning of the quarter. Following the purchase of 2,221 additional shares during the most recent quarter, Credit Suisse AG now owns 47,669 shares in the company that deals in primary materials.
The current market value of these shares is $4,912,000.
During the third quarter, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC achieved a 34.1% increase in the proportion of Ashland shares it owned.
After the previous accounting period came to an end, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC bought a total of 46,808 shares in the fundamental materials company.
These shares are worth a combined total of $4,445,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC made a new investment in the amount of $9,523,000 in Ashland during the third quarter of the fiscal year.
In the second quarter, Advisors Asset Management INC increased its total stake in Ashland to 2,554.9% of its shares, bringing its total stake to 2,554.9%.
Advisors Asset Management INC now has 6,770 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, which has a value of $698,000 after purchasing an additional 6,515 shares during the most recent quarter.
Additionally, during the third quarter of this year, the Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased the percentage of Ashland held in its portfolio by 115.0%.
The Teacher Retirement System of Texas now has a total of 18,697 shares of the stock of the basic materials company after purchasing an additional 9,999 shares over the most recent quarter.
The stock is currently valued at $1,776,000, and the Teacher Retirement System of Texas has spent the most recent quarter purchasing the shares. Shares of the company are held by various institutional investors, including hedge funds, to the extent that together they account for 92.21% of the total.
Ashland, INC carries a wide variety of goods, including those catering to the construction industry, the energy industry, the food and beverage industry, the nutraceutical industry, the personal care industry, and the pharmaceutical industry.
This particular company caters to various markets, including the life sciences, personal care, special additives, and intermediates industries. Wilmington, located in the state of Delaware, serves as the headquarters of the company, which was established in 1924.