UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) Director Sells 4,000 Shares

Key Points

• Director sale: UL Solutions Director Friedrich Hecker sold 4,000 shares at an average price of $102.04, worth about $408,160. After the transaction, he still held 13,180 shares.
• Stock performance and earnings: Shares rose 0.5% to $102.87, near the 52-week high of $107.54. The company also beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $0.50 EPS on $758 million in revenue, with revenue up 7.5% year over year.
• Dividend and analyst outlook: UL Solutions declared a quarterly dividend of $0.145 per share, yielding about 0.6% annually. Analysts remain moderately bullish overall, with a consensus price target of $101.54 and recent target increases from firms including Wells Fargo and UBS.

UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS - Get Free Report) Director Friedrich Hecker sold 4,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.04, for a total value of $408,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 13,180 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,344,887.20. The trade was a 23.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

UL Solutions Trading Up 0.5%

ULS stock traded up $0.53 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $102.87. The company had a trading volume of 603,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 703,531. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. UL Solutions Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.64 and a 52 week high of $107.54. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $90.49 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.41. The stock has a market cap of $20.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.16, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 0.59.

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.08. UL Solutions had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 11.24%.The firm had revenue of $758.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $748.50 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.37 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that UL Solutions Inc. will post 2.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UL Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 29th will be given a $0.145 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. UL Solutions's payout ratio is presently 33.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ULS. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in UL Solutions by 4.3% in the third quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 3,541 shares of the company's stock valued at $251,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC lifted its holdings in UL Solutions by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 3,477 shares of the company's stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the period. Cresset Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in UL Solutions by 4.0% in the second quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 4,174 shares of the company's stock valued at $304,000 after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in UL Solutions by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 15,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,195,000 after acquiring an additional 194 shares during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on ULS shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on UL Solutions from $102.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on UL Solutions from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded UL Solutions from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Raymond James Financial reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of UL Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on UL Solutions in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $101.54.

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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