UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS) has been given an average recommendation of “Hold” by the ten analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $87.60.

ULS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Research cut UL Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of UL Solutions from $88.10 to $87.80 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of UL Solutions from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating on shares of UL Solutions in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of UL Solutions from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th.

UL Solutions Price Performance

ULS stock opened at $84.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The firm has a market cap of $17.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.24, a PEG ratio of 3.47 and a beta of 0.77. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $78.80. UL Solutions has a 12-month low of $49.93 and a 12-month high of $91.95.

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.07. UL Solutions had a return on equity of 31.62% and a net margin of 10.61%.The firm had revenue of $789.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.37 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that UL Solutions will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

UL Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a $0.145 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This is an increase from UL Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. UL Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.48%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UL Solutions news, CEO Jennifer F. Scanlon sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.50, for a total value of $1,068,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 200,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,166,177. This trade represents a 5.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UL Solutions

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in UL Solutions during the fourth quarter worth $715,000. Arrow Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UL Solutions in the 4th quarter worth about $5,773,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in UL Solutions by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,878,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,618,000 after acquiring an additional 545,528 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in UL Solutions by 399.2% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 124,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,810,000 after purchasing an additional 99,478 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Tennessee Department of Treasury bought a new stake in UL Solutions during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,644,000.

About UL Solutions

UL Solutions (NYSE: ULS) is a global safety science company that provides testing, inspection, certification, advisory and digital solutions designed to help organizations manage risk, ensure regulatory compliance and drive innovation. With roots dating back to 1894 when it was founded as Underwriters’ Electrical Bureau, the company rebranded as UL Solutions following its initial public offering in 2022. Headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois, UL Solutions operates independently to serve a broad range of industries with an emphasis on product safety, performance and sustainability.

The company’s core services include standards development, product testing and certification for sectors such as building products, consumer electronics, automotive, life sciences, energy and industrial equipment.