Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 31,500 UL Solutions Inc. $ULS

Key Points

• Hussman Strategic Advisors disclosed a new Q4 stake of 31,500 shares in UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS), valued at about $2.484 million per its 13F filing.
• CEO Jennifer F. Scanlon sold 12,500 shares on May 1 at an average price of $91.57 for roughly $1.145 million, leaving her with 188,274 shares outstanding.
• ULS posted an earnings beat (Q EPS $0.53 vs. $0.46 expected), and analysts hold a mixed but overall Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $88.42.

Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 31,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,484,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ULS. Assetmark Inc. acquired a new position in UL Solutions in the third quarter valued at $40,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its stake in UL Solutions by 3,070.0% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 634 shares of the company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers acquired a new position in UL Solutions in the first quarter valued at $49,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in UL Solutions by 18.2% in the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in UL Solutions by 3,720.6% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,299 shares of the company's stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ULS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. 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. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of UL Solutions to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of UL Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of UL Solutions from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of UL Solutions in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $88.42.

Insider Transactions at UL Solutions

In related news, CEO Jennifer F. Scanlon sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $91.57, for a total transaction of $1,144,625.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 188,274 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,240,250.18. This represents a 6.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

UL Solutions Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE ULS opened at $91.65 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $18.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.64, a P/E/G ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.59. UL Solutions Inc. has a 52-week low of $58.78 and a 52-week high of $94.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $85.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $81.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.32, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $789.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $782.37 million. UL Solutions had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 31.62%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that UL Solutions Inc. will post 2.02 EPS for the current year.

UL Solutions Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Investors of record on Monday, March 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.145 per share. This is an increase 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 is currently 36.48%.

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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