BidaskClub Downgrades US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) to Strong Sell

BidaskClub downgraded shares of US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Friday, November 15th, BidAskClub reports.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on ECOL. UBS Group set a $63.00 price target on US Ecology and gave the company a hold rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Zacks Investment Research downgraded US Ecology from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, ValuEngine raised US Ecology from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st.

Shares of NASDAQ:ECOL traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $54.44. The stock had a trading volume of 2,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 221,927. US Ecology has a 12 month low of $53.48 and a 12 month high of $70.48. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $61.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.97. The company has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.44 and a beta of 0.53.

US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. US Ecology had a return on equity of 13.61% and a net margin of 8.22%. The business had revenue of $167.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that US Ecology will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ECOL. American Research & Management Co. acquired a new position in US Ecology in the second quarter valued at about $36,000. US Bancorp DE grew its position in US Ecology by 20.0% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in US Ecology in the first quarter valued at about $77,000. First Mercantile Trust Co. grew its position in US Ecology by 13.5% in the second quarter. First Mercantile Trust Co. now owns 1,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in US Ecology by 27.4% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. 87.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.