Ashland upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan

JPMorgan analyst Jeffrey Zekauskas upgraded Ashland (ASH) to Overweight from Neutral with a price target of $71, up from $68. Ashland is a mostly non-cyclical specialty company that has fallen in value because of negative earnings momentum following a period of customer de-stocking, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm views the weakness in Ashland’s businesses as more transient rather than structural. JPMorgan believes the company’s businesses is “generally stabilizing.”