Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) Increases Dividend to $0.41 Per Share

Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH) announced a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, May 7th, Zacks reports. Stockholders of record on Saturday, June 1st will be given a dividend of 0.405 per share by the basic materials company on Saturday, June 15th. This represents a $1.62 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 31st. This is a boost from Ashland’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39.

Ashland has increased its dividend by an average of 10.6% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 14 consecutive years. Ashland has a payout ratio of 28.3% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ashland to earn $5.59 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 29.0%.

Ashland Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE ASH traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $97.86. The company had a trading volume of 319,205 shares, compared to its average volume of 439,223. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $95.87 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.36. 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 has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94 and a beta of 0.92. Ashland has a 12-month low of $70.82 and a 12-month high of $99.55.

Ashland (NYSE:ASH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.27 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.14 by $0.13. Ashland had a return on equity of 5.57% and a net margin of 9.09%. The firm had revenue of $575.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $574.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 4.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ashland will post 4.47 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ASH. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Ashland in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $108.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Ashland from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ashland from $88.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. TheStreet raised shares of Ashland from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ashland from $114.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $106.44.

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.