6 Meridian raised its holdings in US Ecology Inc (NASDAQ:ECOL) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,171 shares of the business services provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the quarter. 6 Meridian’s holdings in US Ecology were worth $531,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECOL. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in US Ecology by 0.4% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 3,188,445 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $189,841,000 after buying an additional 11,670 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of US Ecology by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,402,130 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $83,483,000 after acquiring an additional 13,644 shares in the last quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of US Ecology by 21.5% during the 2nd quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 924,678 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $55,056,000 after acquiring an additional 163,556 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of US Ecology by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 639,685 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $40,901,000 after acquiring an additional 5,939 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of US Ecology by 8,603.0% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 600,596 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $35,759,000 after acquiring an additional 593,695 shares during the period. 89.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Shares of US Ecology stock traded down $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $54.01. 147,085 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 139,319. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $55.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $59.68. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.79 and a beta of 0.55. US Ecology Inc has a fifty-two week low of $53.37 and a fifty-two week high of $67.24.
US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $0.75 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ 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 business had revenue of $167.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that US Ecology Inc will post 2.16 earnings per share for the current year.
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 17th were issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $0.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.33%. US Ecology’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 31.03%.
ECOL has been the subject of several research reports. Zacks Investment Research cut US Ecology from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. BidaskClub cut US Ecology from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group set a $63.00 price target on US Ecology and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, ValuEngine lowered shares of US Ecology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th.
US Ecology 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.
Further Reading: Asset Allocation, Balancing Your Investments
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