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

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) announced a quarterly dividend on Friday, August 9th, NASDAQ reports. Shareholders of record on Sunday, September 1st will be paid a dividend of 0.405 per share by the basic materials company on Sunday, September 15th. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 30th.

Ashland has raised its dividend by an average of 10.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 15 consecutive years. Ashland has a payout ratio of 29.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect Ashland to earn $5.82 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 27.8%.

Ashland Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:ASH traded down $0.50 on Wednesday, hitting $88.59. 163,309 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 411,830. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 0.90. Ashland has a 52 week low of $70.82 and a 52 week high of $102.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.94 and a current ratio of 3.15. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $91.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $94.80.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The basic materials company reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.45 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $544.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $577.08 million. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 9.09%. Ashland’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.23 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ashland will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ASH shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Ashland from $116.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Ashland from $105.00 to $92.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ashland from an “underweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $89.00 in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com downgraded Ashland from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ashland from $112.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ashland has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $103.50.

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.