US Ecology Inc (NASDAQ:ECOL) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 29th, there was short interest totalling 1,050,000 shares, a drop of 21.1% from the November 14th total of 1,330,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 158,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.6 days. Approximately 6.0% of the shares of the company are short sold.
ECOL stock traded down $1.78 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $55.61. 221,849 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 123,618. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.97 and a beta of 0.54. US Ecology has a 52-week low of $53.48 and a 52-week high of $67.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $58.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $60.76.
US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ 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 return on equity of 13.61% and a net margin of 8.22%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.61 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that US Ecology will post 2.2 EPS for the current year.
Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings 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 valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 206 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in US Ecology during the 1st quarter valued at about $77,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. First Mercantile Trust Co. grew its holdings in US Ecology by 13.5% during the 2nd quarter. First Mercantile Trust Co. now owns 1,510 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $90,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Usca Ria LLC purchased a new position in US Ecology during the 3rd quarter valued at about $128,000. 89.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BidaskClub lowered US Ecology from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Zacks Investment Research lowered US Ecology from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. ValuEngine lowered US Ecology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, UBS Group set a $63.00 price objective on US Ecology and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st.
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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