State of Michigan Retirement System Buys New Stake in UL Solutions Inc. $ULS

State of Michigan Retirement System bought a new stake in UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 17,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,404,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. purchased a new position in shares of UL Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its position in shares of UL Solutions by 3,070.0% in the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of UL Solutions by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers purchased a new position in shares of UL Solutions in the 1st quarter valued at $49,000. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in UL Solutions by 3,720.6% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter.

UL Solutions Stock Up 1.3%

ULS stock opened at $91.65 on Friday. UL Solutions Inc. has a one year low of $58.78 and a one year high of $94.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.42 billion, a PE ratio of 57.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a fifty day moving average of $85.22 and a 200-day moving average of $81.22.

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.07. UL Solutions had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 31.62%. The company had revenue of $789.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that UL Solutions Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

UL Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.145 per share. This is a boost from UL Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. UL Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.48%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jennifer F. Scanlon sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.57, for a total value of $1,144,625.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 188,274 shares in the company, valued at $17,240,250.18. This trade represents a 6.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ULS. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of UL Solutions to $86.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of UL Solutions from $88.10 to $87.80 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of UL Solutions from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of UL Solutions from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of UL Solutions from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $88.42.

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.