US Ecology Inc (NASDAQ:ECOL) saw a large increase in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 171,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.8 days. Approximately 6.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.
Several brokerages have commented on ECOL. Zacks Investment Research cut shares of US Ecology from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. ValuEngine lowered US Ecology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group set a $63.00 price objective on US Ecology and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BidaskClub cut US Ecology from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th.
Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in US Ecology by 377.9% in the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 60,959 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $3,897,000 after acquiring an additional 48,203 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in 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 worth $2,198,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in US Ecology by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 639,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,901,000 after acquiring an additional 5,939 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of US Ecology by 128.6% in the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 415,866 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,591,000 after purchasing an additional 233,941 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of US Ecology by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 483,020 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $30,884,000 after purchasing an additional 36,751 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.44% of the company’s stock.
Shares of NASDAQ ECOL opened at $56.66 on Friday. 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 cap of $1.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.42 and a beta of 0.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $56.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $60.51. US Ecology has a 1-year low of $53.48 and a 1-year high of $67.24.
US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts’ expectations of $161.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that US Ecology will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
US Ecology Company 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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