Ashland Inc. (ASH) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.41 on December 15th

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, November 14th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Sunday, December 1st will be given a dividend of 0.405 per share by the basic materials company on Sunday, December 15th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.11%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 29th.

Ashland has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.6% annually over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Ashland has a payout ratio of 33.3% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Ashland to earn $5.74 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 28.2%.

Ashland Stock Performance

Shares of ASH stock opened at $76.94 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 2.44. Ashland has a 52 week low of $75.90 and a 52 week high of $102.50. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $84.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $90.92. The company has a market capitalization of $3.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.88.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $522.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $524.07 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 7.43% and a net margin of 7.95%. Ashland’s revenue for the quarter was up .8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ASH. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com lowered Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $104.57.

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.