Yahoo Finance Ashland (ASH) to Divest Nutraceuticals Business to Turnspire
Ashland Inc. ASH announced an agreement to sell its nutraceuticals business to Turnspire Capital Partners LLC. The deal is anticipated to close during the calendar third quarter of 2024, pending the fulfillment of standard closing conditions.
Ashland's nutraceuticals business offers a wide range of active ingredients and formulation aids to nutrition product manufacturers. It also provides custom formulation and contract manufacturing services for the nutrition sector. The business operates from four production sites in New Jersey and Utah in the United States and Tamaulipas, Mexico.
Ashland stated that its nutraceuticals business has a strong portfolio of proprietary ingredients, advanced formulation and manufacturing capabilities and a dedicated team that has worked tirelessly to drive growth.
Citi is serving as Ashland's financial advisor for this transaction, with legal guidance provided by Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.
Ashland’s shares have gained 10.5% in the past year against a 10.2% decline of the industry.
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Ashland generated profits of $120 million or $2.39 per share in second-quarter fiscal 2024. Adjusted earnings per share, which exclude one-time items, dropped to $1.27 from $1.43 in the year-ago period. Sales in the quarter totaled $575 million, down 4.6% year over year. The downtick in sales was primarily due to lower pricing.
Ashland projects sales for the fiscal third quarter to be between $560 and $580 million. The company also anticipates adjusted EBITDA for the same period to be in the range of $138-$148 million. For the fiscal year, Ashland forecasts sales in the range of $2,150-$2,225 million and expects adjusted EBITDA to be between $470 million and $500 million.
Ashland Inc. Price and Consensus
Ashland Inc. price-consensus-chart | Ashland Inc. Quote
Zacks Rank & Key Picks
Ashland currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
Some better-ranked stocks in the basic materials space include ATI Inc. ATI, Carpenter Technology Corporation CRS and Ecolab Inc. ECL.
ATI sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). ATI’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 8.34%. The company’s shares have soared 58.5% in the past year.You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Carpenter Technology currently flaunts a Zacks Rank #1. CRS’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters while matching it once, with the average earnings surprise being 15.1%. The company’s shares have soared 101.6%% in the past year.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Ecolab's current year earnings is pegged at $6.55 per share, indicating a year-over-year rise of 25.7%. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ECL’s current-year earnings has been going up in the past 30 days. ECL, a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) stock, beat the consensus estimate in each of the last four quarters, with the average earnings surprise being 1.3%. The company’s shares have rallied roughly 34.8% in the past year.
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