Ashland Inc. (NYSE:ASH), might not be a large cap stock, but it saw a decent share price growth of 16% on the NYSE over the last few months. While good news for shareholders, the company has traded much higher in the past year. With many analysts covering the mid-cap stock, we may expect any price-sensitive announcements have already been factored into the stock's share price. However, could the stock still be trading at a relatively cheap price? Let's take a look at Ashland's outlook and value based on the most recent financial data to see if the opportunity still exists.

Check out our latest analysis for Ashland

What's The Opportunity In Ashland?

Good news, investors! Ashland is still a bargain right now. Our valuation model shows that the intrinsic value for the stock is $138.53, but it is currently trading at US$84.31 on the share market, meaning that there is still an opportunity to buy now. What's more interesting is that, Ashland's share price is theoretically quite stable, which could mean two things: firstly, it may take the share price a while to move to its intrinsic value, and secondly, there may be less chances to buy low in the future once it reaches that value. This is because the stock is less volatile than the wider market given its low beta.

Can we expect growth from Ashland?

Future outlook is an important aspect when you're looking at buying a stock, especially if you are an investor looking for growth in your portfolio. Buying a great company with a robust outlook at a cheap price is always a good investment, so let's also take a look at the company's future expectations. Ashland's earnings over the next few years are expected to increase by 51%, indicating a highly optimistic future ahead. This should lead to more robust cash flows, feeding into a higher share value.

What This Means For You

Are you a shareholder? Since ASH is currently undervalued, it may be a great time to accumulate more of your holdings in the stock. With an optimistic outlook on the horizon, it seems like this growth has not yet been fully factored into the share price. However, there are also other factors such as capital structure to consider, which could explain the current undervaluation.

Are you a potential investor? If you've been keeping an eye on ASH for a while, now might be the time to enter the stock. Its prosperous future outlook isn't fully reflected in the current share price yet, which means it's not too late to buy ASH. But before you make any investment decisions, consider other factors such as the strength of its balance sheet, in order to make a well-informed buy.

If you want to dive deeper into Ashland, you'd also look into what risks it is currently facing. While conducting our analysis, we found that Ashland has 2 warning signs and it would be unwise to ignore them.

If you are no longer interested in Ashland, you can use our free platform to see our list of over 50 other stocks with a high growth potential.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.