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Ashland (ASH) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Ashland (ASH - Free Report) closed at $102.29 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.54% move from the prior day. The stock lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 2.76%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 2.43%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.13%.

Coming into today, shares of the chemical company had gained 5.54% in the past month. In that same time, the Basic Materials sector lost 12.35%, while the S&P 500 gained 4.44%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Ashland as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be July 26, 2022. In that report, analysts expect Ashland to post earnings of $1.36 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 11.48%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $596.08 million, down 6.42% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $5.05 per share and revenue of $2.33 billion, which would represent changes of +34.67% and -1.88%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Ashland. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.16% lower. Ashland is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Investors should also note Ashland's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 19.97. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 13.34, which means Ashland is trading at a premium to the group.

The Chemical - Specialty industry is part of the Basic Materials sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 95, putting it in the top 38% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow ASH in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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