US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Zacks.com reports.
According to Zacks, “US Ecology, Inc., formerly known as American Ecology Corporation, provides radioactive, PCB, hazardous, and non-hazardous waste services to commercial and government customers throughout the United States. The Company operates through its subsidiaries and provides its services to steel mills, medical and academic institutions, refineries, chemical manufacturing facilities and the nuclear power industry. Its subsidiaries include US Ecology Nevada, Inc., US Ecology Washington, Inc., US Ecology Texas, Inc., US Ecology Idaho, Inc., and US Ecology Field Services, Inc. The Company operates through two business segments: operating disposal facilities and non-operating disposal facilities. US Ecology, Inc. is headquartered in Boise, Idaho. “
A number of other research firms have also issued reports on ECOL. BidaskClub lowered US Ecology from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. ValuEngine downgraded US Ecology from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group set a $63.00 price objective on US Ecology and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st.
Shares of NASDAQ:ECOL opened at $55.44 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.90 and a beta of 0.55. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $56.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $60.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 2.03 and a quick ratio of 2.03. US Ecology has a 1-year low of $53.43 and a 1-year high of $67.24.
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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.01. US Ecology had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 13.61%. The company had revenue of $167.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $161.25 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 earnings per share. US Ecology’s quarterly revenue was up 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that US Ecology will post 2.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.
A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of ECOL. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new position in US Ecology during the 1st quarter worth $77,000. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of US Ecology by 199.7% in the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 3,075 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $183,000 after acquiring an additional 2,049 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of US Ecology by 9.8% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 148,585 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $8,847,000 after acquiring an additional 13,288 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of US Ecology by 2.2% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 321,368 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $19,134,000 after acquiring an additional 6,833 shares during the period. Finally, Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of US Ecology by 8.0% during the second quarter. Parametric Portfolio Associates LLC now owns 39,292 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $2,339,000 after acquiring an additional 2,904 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.45% of the company’s stock.
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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