Jefferies Reiterates Buy on Ashland

Jefferies is out with its report today on Ashland ASH, reiterating Buy. In its report, Jefferies writes, "While Aqualon continues to outperform, trends were slightly weaker than we expected in Performance Materials, Water Technologies, and Valvoline in July. We are raising Q4 EPS $0.01 to $0.87, but lowering FY12E $0.10 to $5.10. With Ashland trading at 9.3x FY12E, we reiterate our Buy rating." Jefferies maintains a $67 PT on ASH. Shares of ASH closed Monday at $46.40, down 2.30% from Friday's close.