UPDATE: Jefferies & Company Reiterates Buy Rating, Raises PT for Ashland

In a company note published earlier today, Jefferies & Company, Inc. reiterated its Buy rating for Ashland Inc. (NYSE: ASH) and raised its price target from $76.00 to $81.00.

Jefferies & Company went on to say “The strong performance in Specialty Ingredients continued in May, supplemented with better than expected Performance Materials margins and better results in Valvoline. Coupled with favorable raw material trends, we are raising Q3 (June) EPS $0.27 to $1.81 and 2012E $0.35 to $6.20. We are also raising our price target $5 to $81, 6.5x 2013E EBITDA.”

Ashland Inc. closed on Friday at $68.05.