Capital International Inc. CA Raises Stock Holdings in UL Solutions Inc. $ULS

Key Points

• Capital International Inc. CA raised its stake in UL Solutions by 28.4% in Q3 to 119,856 shares, worth about $8.49 million.
• Analysts are mixed but the consensus rating is "Hold" with a $87.60 consensus price target after recent notes from Wells Fargo, Baird, Weiss and others.
• UL Solutions posted an EPS beat ($0.53 vs. $0.46) with revenue up 6.8% year-over-year and increased its quarterly dividend to $0.145 (annualized $0.58, ~0.7% yield).

Capital International Inc. CA lifted its stake in shares of UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS - Free Report) by 28.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 119,856 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 26,504 shares during the period. Capital International Inc. CA owned 0.06% of UL Solutions worth $8,493,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its stake in UL Solutions by 48.4% in the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 524 shares of the company's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UL Solutions during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in shares of UL Solutions by 3,070.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 634 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers purchased a new stake in shares of UL Solutions during the first quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of UL Solutions by 28.2% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 731 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 161 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ULS. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of UL Solutions from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on UL Solutions from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on UL Solutions from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Zacks Research downgraded UL Solutions from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of UL Solutions in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UL Solutions currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $87.60.

UL Solutions Trading Down 1.0%

NYSE:ULS opened at $81.69 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $16.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.87. UL Solutions Inc. has a one year low of $49.34 and a one year high of $91.95. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $76.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.45.

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.07. UL Solutions had a return on equity of 31.62% and a net margin of 10.61%.The company had revenue of $789.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $782.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.49 EPS. UL Solutions's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UL Solutions Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UL Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.145 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 2nd. This is an increase from UL Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.58 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.7%. UL Solutions's dividend payout ratio is 36.48%.

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.

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