CENTRAL TRUST Co purchased a new stake in shares of US Ecology Inc (NASDAQ:ECOL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,500 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $87,000.
Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Mercantile Trust Co. raised its position in shares of US Ecology by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Mercantile Trust Co. now owns 1,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its position in shares of US Ecology by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in shares of US Ecology by 27.4% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,476 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of US Ecology by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 34,380 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,198,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. Finally, 6 Meridian raised its position in shares of US Ecology by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. 6 Meridian now owns 9,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. 89.43% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Shares of NASDAQ ECOL opened at $54.55 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.03 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.03, a current ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. US Ecology Inc has a 52-week low of $53.43 and a 52-week high of $67.24. The business’s 50 day moving average is $56.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $59.89.
US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $167.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.25 million. US Ecology had a return on equity of 13.61% and a net margin of 8.22%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.61 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that US Ecology Inc will post 2.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 17th were given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 16th. US Ecology’s payout ratio is 31.03%.
Several research firms have recently commented on ECOL. UBS Group set a $63.00 price target on shares of US Ecology and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BidaskClub lowered US Ecology from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Zacks Investment Research lowered US Ecology from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, ValuEngine lowered US Ecology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th.
US Ecology Profile
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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