COMP <GO>

ASH vs HWKN // EV/EBITDA & P/E VALUATION

Ashland Inc. (NYSE) VS. Hawkins Inc. (NASDAQ) • 15-METRIC TALLY: ASH 3 — HWKN 4

■ METRIC PARITY

LAST: $74.38 (+2.35%) • MKT CAP: $3.41B

valuation

—

LAST: $153.73 (-0.21%) • MKT CAP: $3.20B

valuation

20.2x

15-METRIC INSTITUTIONAL SIDE-BY-SIDE SCORECARD (ASH VS. HWKN) EMERALD CELL = QUANTITATIVE EDGE

INSTITUTIONAL METRIC	ASH	HWKN	SPREAD (A - B)	ADVANTAGE	DEDICATED URL
Gross Profit Margin	30.10%	22.60%	+7.50	ASH	/gross-margins <GO>
Return on Invested Capital (ROIC)	-20.70%	12.40%	-33.10	HWKN	/roic <GO>
EV/EBITDA & P/E Valuation ACTIVE	—	20.2x	—	TIE	/valuation <GO>
Free Cash Flow Yield	—	2.69%	—	TIE	/fcf-yield <GO>
Operating Margin	-42.50%	11.20%	-53.70	HWKN	/operating-margins <GO>
Net Profit Margin	—	7.50%	—	TIE	/net-margins <GO>
Revenue Growth (YoY)	-13.70%	11.20%	-24.90	HWKN	/revenue-growth <GO>
Dividend Yield & FCF Payout Safety	2.23%	0.49%	+1.74	ASH	/dividend-safety <GO>
Altman Z-Score & Debt/Equity	—	6.57	—	TIE	/balance-sheet <GO>
Piotroski F-Score Quality	—	7/9	—	TIE	/piotroski-score <GO>
Options Implied Move & Put/Call Skew	—	—	—	TIE	/options-implied-move <GO>
RSI-14 & 200D SMA Momentum	66.2	78.0	-11.82	HWKN	/rsi-technicals <GO>
10Y Yield & FRED Macro Beta	—	—	—	TIE	/macro-sensitivity <GO>
Forward P/E Multiple	—	36.5x	—	TIE	/forward-pe <GO>
Enterprise Scale & Market Cap	$3.41B	$3.20B	$209.7M	ASH	/market-cap <GO>

5-YEAR HISTORICAL XBRL REVENUE & MARGIN TRAJECTORY SEC FORM 10-K FY

FISCAL YEAR	ASH REV	HWKN REV	ASH GROSS %	HWKN GROSS %	ASH FCF	HWKN FCF
FY 2025	$1.82B	$1.08B	30.1%	22.6%	—	$86.1M
FY 2024	$2.11B	$974.4M	29.2%	23.1%	—	$70.0M
FY 2023	$2.19B	$919.2M	—	—	—	$159.5M

FRED MACRO REGIME CORRELATION COMPARISON PEARSON r

ASH // BETA —

HWKN // BETA —