Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Sells 90,103 Shares of UL Solutions Inc. $ULS

Key Points

• Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holding in UL Solutions by 7.9%, selling 90,103 shares and leaving it with 1,046,576 shares valued at about $82.53 million (a 0.52% stake).
• Several large institutions added to ULS positions—Vanguard raised its stake 21.9% to 6.74 million shares (~$531.6M), while Capital International, Capital Research and others also increased holdings and Allspring bought a new ~$97.8M stake.
• CEO Jennifer F. Scanlon sold 12,500 shares at $85.50 under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, and the company recently beat quarterly EPS estimates ($0.53 vs. $0.46) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.145 (annualized yield ~0.6%).

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS - Free Report) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,046,576 shares of the company's stock after selling 90,103 shares during the period. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned 0.52% of UL Solutions worth $82,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ULS. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new stake in UL Solutions in the 3rd quarter valued at $97,803,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in UL Solutions by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,740,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $531,567,000 after acquiring an additional 1,213,188 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in UL Solutions by 10.8% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 7,548,311 shares of the company's stock valued at $534,738,000 after acquiring an additional 738,720 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in UL Solutions by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,942,905 shares of the company's stock valued at $279,394,000 after acquiring an additional 674,088 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in UL Solutions by 405.7% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 593,484 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,054,000 after acquiring an additional 476,121 shares during the period.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jennifer F. Scanlon sold 12,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.50, for a total transaction of $1,068,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 200,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,166,177. This represents a 5.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UL Solutions Stock Up 3.0%

ULS stock opened at $90.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.00, a PEG ratio of 3.56 and a beta of 0.77. The business's fifty day moving average price is $85.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.16. UL Solutions Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $56.70 and a fifty-two week high of $94.04.

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $782.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. UL Solutions's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that UL Solutions Inc. will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

UL Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were given a dividend of $0.145 per share. This is a positive change from UL Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. UL Solutions's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.48%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ULS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on UL Solutions to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on UL Solutions in a research report on Monday, April 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on UL Solutions from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of UL Solutions in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on UL Solutions from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $88.42.

UL Solutions Company Profile

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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