BidaskClub cut shares of US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Friday morning, BidAskClub reports.
Several other research firms have also issued reports on ECOL. ValuEngine upgraded shares of US Ecology from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group set a $63.00 price objective on shares of US Ecology and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of US Ecology from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $65.67.
NASDAQ ECOL traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $54.72. The company had a trading volume of 4,587 shares, compared to its average volume of 211,619. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59 and a beta of 0.53. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $62.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.07. US Ecology has a fifty-two week low of $54.15 and a fifty-two week high of $72.85.
US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 13.61%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that US Ecology will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 18th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 17th. US Ecology’s payout ratio is 31.03%.
Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECOL. American Research & Management Co. acquired a new stake in US Ecology in the 2nd quarter valued at about $36,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in shares of US Ecology by 20.0% in the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 206 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of US Ecology in the first quarter worth about $77,000. First Mercantile Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $90,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. 87.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
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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