Ashland Global Holdings Inc (NYSE:ASH) – Research analysts at SunTrust Banks cut their Q1 2020 earnings per share estimates for shares of Ashland Global in a research note issued on Tuesday, January 7th. SunTrust Banks analyst J. Sheehan now expects that the basic materials company will post earnings per share of $0.06 for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $0.26.
A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Ashland Global from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, December 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Ashland Global from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $88.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 14th. Buckingham Research reduced their target price on shares of Ashland Global from $85.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Ashland Global from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $77.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Co assumed coverage on shares of Ashland Global in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $90.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Ashland Global presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $85.13.
Ashland Global stock opened at $74.38 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $74.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $76.00. Ashland Global has a twelve month low of $70.50 and a twelve month high of $81.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 29.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.24.
Ashland Global (NYSE:ASH) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 18th. The basic materials company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.21). Ashland Global had a return on equity of 4.64% and a net margin of 20.26%. The business had revenue of $609.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $644.53 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.97 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.0% on a year-over-year basis.
A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Eminence Capital LP purchased a new stake in Ashland Global in the 2nd quarter valued at about $413,763,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its position in Ashland Global by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 1,588,305 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $122,379,000 after buying an additional 126,472 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Ashland Global by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,507,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $116,152,000 after buying an additional 129,934 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Ashland Global by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,019,458 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $78,549,000 after buying an additional 66,533 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its position in Ashland Global by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 993,030 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,413,000 after buying an additional 81,913 shares during the period. 91.16% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
In other Ashland Global news, CFO J Kevin Willis sold 2,122 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.99, for a total value of $167,616.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 2,266 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $178,991.34. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Peter Ganz sold 1,351 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.99, for a total transaction of $106,715.49. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 40,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,217,894.62. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 3,982 shares of company stock valued at $314,538. 9.33% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.275 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 29th. This represents a $1.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.48%. Ashland Global’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.00%.
Ashland Global Company Profile
Ashland Global Holdings Inc provides specialty chemical solutions worldwide. The company’s Specialty Ingredients segment offers products, technologies, and resources for solving formulation and product-performance challenges. It provides solutions using natural, synthetic, and semisynthetic polymers derived from cellulose ethers, vinyl pyrrolidones, acrylic polymers, polyester and polyurethane-based adhesives, and plant and seed extracts.
