US Ecology Inc (NASDAQ:ECOL) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of November. As of November 29th, there was short interest totalling 1,050,000 shares, a drop of 21.1% from the November 14th total of 1,330,000 shares. Currently, 6.0% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 158,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.6 days.
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of US Ecology by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,238 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 206 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in shares of US Ecology during the 1st quarter valued at $77,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in US Ecology by 27.4% in the 3rd 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. First Mercantile Trust Co. grew its holdings in US Ecology by 13.5% in the 2nd 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, Usca Ria LLC bought a new stake in US Ecology in the 3rd quarter worth $128,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.44% of the company’s stock.
Several equities research analysts recently commented on ECOL shares. Zacks Investment Research downgraded US Ecology from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. ValuEngine lowered US Ecology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. UBS Group set a $63.00 price objective on US Ecology and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BidaskClub lowered US Ecology from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th.
Shares of ECOL traded down $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $55.01. The stock had a trading volume of 99,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 188,762. US Ecology has a 52 week low of $53.48 and a 52 week high of $67.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $57.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $60.72. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.17 and a beta of 0.54.
US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.01. US Ecology had a return on equity of 13.61% and a net margin of 8.22%. The company had revenue of $167.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.25 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.61 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that US Ecology will post 2.2 earnings per share for the current year.
About US Ecology
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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