UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Analysts: shares of UL Solutions have an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from 11 brokerages (6 hold, 4 buy, 1 strong buy) with an average 12‑month price target of $88.42.
• Company fundamentals: UL Solutions reported quarterly EPS of $0.53, beating the $0.46 estimate, with revenue of $789M (up 6.8% YoY), and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.145 per share while trading near its 1‑year high.

Shares of UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS - Get Free Report) have been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have given a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $88.4222.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of UL Solutions to $86.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on UL Solutions from $97.00 to $96.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 20th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on UL Solutions in a research report on Monday. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lowered their price objective on UL Solutions from $88.10 to $87.80 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded UL Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 14th.

UL Solutions Stock Performance

Shares of ULS opened at $92.10 on Wednesday. UL Solutions has a 1 year low of $53.44 and a 1 year high of $94.04. The company has a market cap of $18.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.77. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $82.84 and a 200-day moving average of $80.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32.

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.07. UL Solutions had a net margin of 10.61% and a return on equity of 31.62%. The firm had revenue of $789.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $782.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.49 EPS. UL Solutions's revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that UL Solutions will post 2.02 earnings per share for the current year.

UL Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 boost from UL Solutions's previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.6%. UL Solutions's dividend payout ratio is 36.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Jennifer F. Scanlon sold 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 1st. The stock was 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 directly owned 200,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,166,177. This trade represents a 5.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 1.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UL Solutions

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ULS. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in UL Solutions by 18.2% during the third quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 864 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 133 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in UL Solutions by 4.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,541 shares of the company's stock worth $251,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Advisor OS LLC lifted its holdings in UL Solutions by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,477 shares of the company's stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares in the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in UL Solutions by 4.0% during the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,174 shares of the company's stock worth $304,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management lifted its holdings in UL Solutions by 3.6% during the third quarter. Sheets Smith Wealth Management now owns 4,674 shares of the company's stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares in the last quarter.

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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