Ashland Global Holdings Inc. (NYSE:ASH) - Investment analysts at Jefferies Group decreased their FY2018 earnings per share estimates for shares of Ashland Global Holdings in a report released on Tuesday. Jefferies Group analyst L. Alexander now forecasts that the basic materials company will post earnings of $2.50 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $2.55. Jefferies Group currently has a “Buy” rating and a $74.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Group also issued estimates for Ashland Global Holdings’ FY2019 earnings at $2.90 EPS and FY2020 earnings at $3.40 EPS.
Ashland Global Holdings (NYSE:ASH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.70 by $0.13. Ashland Global Holdings had a positive return on equity of 10.62% and a negative net margin of 4.71%. The business had revenue of $870 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $842.78 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.95 EPS. Ashland Global Holdings’s quarterly revenue was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year.
ASH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Credit Suisse Group set a $122.00 price target on shares of Ashland Global Holdings and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 27th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Ashland Global Holdings from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $139.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, April 28th. ValuEngine downgraded shares of Ashland Global Holdings from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, June 2nd. TheStreet upgraded shares of Ashland Global Holdings from a “c” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Friday, June 16th. Finally, BidaskClub downgraded shares of Ashland Global Holdings from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. Ashland Global Holdings presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $88.33.
Shares of Ashland Global Holdings (ASH) traded up 1.13% during trading on Thursday, hitting $63.48. The stock had a trading volume of 692,984 shares. The stock’s market capitalization is $3.94 billion. Ashland Global Holdings has a 12-month low of $60.27 and a 12-month high of $128.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $66.24 and its 200-day moving average is $62.02.
Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Marshall Wace North America L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ashland Global Holdings during the second quarter valued at approximately $3,300,000. Evercore Trust Company N.A. increased its position in shares of Ashland Global Holdings by 113.3% in the second quarter. Evercore Trust Company N.A. now owns 2,178,433 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $143,580,000 after buying an additional 1,157,131 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Ashland Global Holdings by 934.5% in the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 198,205 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,063,000 after buying an additional 179,046 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA increased its position in shares of Ashland Global Holdings by 1,326.9% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 272,801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,980,000 after buying an additional 253,683 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gamco Investors INC. ET AL increased its position in shares of Ashland Global Holdings by 25.4% in the second quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 230,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,182,000 after buying an additional 46,682 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.69% of the company’s stock.
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 1st will be given a dividend of $0.225 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, August 30th. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Ashland Global Holdings’s dividend payout ratio is currently -25.42%.
Ashland Global Holdings Company Profile
Ashland Inc is engaged in specialty chemicals, and through Valvoline, is a consumer-branded lubricant supplier. The Company operates in three segments: Ashland Specialty Ingredients (Specialty Ingredients), Ashland Performance Materials (Performance Materials) and Valvoline. Its Specialty Ingredients segment is engaged in providing cellulose ethers, vinyl pyrrolidones and biofunctionals, and consists of two divisions: Consumer Specialties and Industrial Specialties.
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