StockNews.com Lowers Ashland (NYSE:ASH) to Sell

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) was downgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

ASH has been the topic of a number of other reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Ashland from $110.00 to $103.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 9th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Ashland from $114.00 to $106.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. TheStreet lowered shares of Ashland from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Friday, October 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $94.00 to $87.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Ashland from $110.00 to $96.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $93.14.

Ashland Stock Performance

NYSE ASH traded up $1.42 during trading on Monday, reaching $78.32. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 644,959 shares, compared to its average volume of 473,553. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.95 and a beta of 0.97. Ashland has a 12 month low of $70.82 and a 12 month high of $114.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.29.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 9th. The basic materials company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.47 by ($0.06). Ashland had a net margin of 8.07% and a return on equity of 6.78%. The business had revenue of $518.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $528.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.46 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ashland will post 4.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ashland

In other Ashland news, CFO J Kevin Willis sold 7,866 shares of Ashland stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.54, for a total transaction of $680,723.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 11,583 shares in the company, valued at $1,002,392.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 8.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ashland

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. WealthPLAN Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ashland in the first quarter worth $29,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Ashland in the second quarter worth $31,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 338.0% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 403 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 311 shares during the period. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ashland in the first quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Ashland by 95.7% in the first quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 180 shares during the period. 90.08% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ashland

Ashland Inc provides additives and specialty ingredients worldwide. 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.