6 Meridian increased its position in shares of US Ecology Inc (NASDAQ:ECOL) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 446 shares during the quarter. 6 Meridian’s holdings in US Ecology were worth $531,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECOL. US Bancorp DE increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of US Ecology in the first quarter worth approximately $77,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 317 shares during the period. First Mercantile Trust Co. grew its holdings in US Ecology by 11.6% in the third quarter. First Mercantile Trust Co. now owns 1,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $108,000 after purchasing an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, Usca Ria LLC acquired a new position in US Ecology during the third quarter worth approximately $128,000. 89.45% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Shares of NASDAQ:ECOL opened at $55.44 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $56.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $60.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90 and a beta of 0.55. US Ecology Inc has a 1 year low of $53.43 and a 1 year high of $67.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a current ratio of 2.03.
US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. US Ecology had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 13.61%. The firm had revenue of $167.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.25 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.61 earnings per share. US Ecology’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that US Ecology Inc will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. US Ecology’s payout ratio is currently 31.03%.
ECOL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of US Ecology from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. ValuEngine downgraded US Ecology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $63.00 target price 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 report on Friday, November 15th.
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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