US Ecology Inc (NASDAQ:ECOL) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 13th, there was short interest totalling 1,160,000 shares, an increase of 10.5% from the November 28th total of 1,050,000 shares. Approximately 6.2% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 171,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.8 days.
A number of brokerages recently commented on ECOL. ValuEngine downgraded US Ecology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Zacks Investment Research upgraded US Ecology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. UBS Group set a $63.00 target price on US Ecology and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BidaskClub lowered US Ecology from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th.
ECOL stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $55.65. 127,092 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 138,957. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $60.18. The company has a market cap of $1.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.99 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. US Ecology has a one year low of $53.48 and a one year high of $67.24.
US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $167.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.25 million. US Ecology had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 13.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that US Ecology will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Investors of record on Friday, January 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. US Ecology’s payout ratio is 31.03%.
A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in US Ecology by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of US Ecology during the first quarter worth approximately $77,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in US Ecology by 27.4% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. First Mercantile Trust Co. grew its position in US Ecology by 13.5% during the second quarter. First Mercantile Trust Co. now owns 1,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Usca Ria LLC acquired a new position in US Ecology in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $128,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.44% of the company’s stock.
About US Ecology
US Ecology, Inc, through its subsidiaries, provides environmental services to commercial and government entities in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It operates through two segments, Environmental Services, and Field & Industrial Services. The Environmental Services segment offers hazardous material management services, including transportation, recycling, treatment, and disposal of hazardous, non-hazardous, and radioactive waste at its landfill, wastewater, deep-well injection, and other treatment facilities.
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