Shares of US Ecology Inc (NASDAQ:ECOL) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Monday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $63.00 to $58.00. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. US Ecology traded as low as $54.15 and last traded at $54.47, with a volume of 3258 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $54.89.
ECOL has been the topic of a number of other research reports. ValuEngine raised shares of US Ecology from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. BidaskClub downgraded shares of US Ecology from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday. 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 assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. The stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $65.67.
Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ECOL. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of US Ecology in the 1st quarter worth approximately $77,000. Syquant Capital Sas bought a new position in shares of US Ecology in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,881,000. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of US Ecology in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $204,000. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of US Ecology by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 8,736 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $520,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Finally, Fenimore Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of US Ecology by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Fenimore Asset Management Inc. now owns 213,066 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $12,686,000 after purchasing an additional 1,520 shares during the period. 87.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
The company’s 50 day moving average price is $62.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.14. The company has a current ratio of 2.03, a quick ratio of 2.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $1.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.48 and a beta of 0.53.
US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analysts’ expectations of $161.25 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that US Ecology Inc 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 paid a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 17th. US Ecology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.03%.
About US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL)
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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