UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) Hits New 12-Month High - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• UL Solutions hit a new 52-week high — shares reached $92.50 (last $91.92) in mid-day trading, even though analysts have a consensus "Moderate Buy" with a $87.60 price target, below the current price.
• Quarterly results beat estimates — the company reported $0.53 EPS vs. $0.46 expected and $789M in revenue (+6.8% YoY); ULS has a $18.45B market cap and a relatively high P/E of 57.7, indicating a premium valuation.
• Dividend increase and insider/institutional activity — UL raised its quarterly dividend to $0.145 (0.6% yield) while CEO Jennifer Scanlon sold 12,500 shares under a Rule 10b5‑1 plan and institutions like RBC and Goldman materially increased stakes.

UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS - Get Free Report)'s share price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $92.50 and last traded at $91.9150, with a volume of 166340 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $89.61.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on ULS. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on UL Solutions from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on UL Solutions from $88.10 to $87.80 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded UL Solutions from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, UL Solutions presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $87.60.

UL Solutions Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $18.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.71, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.77. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $81.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $79.92.

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

UL Solutions Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at UL Solutions

In other news, CEO Jennifer F. Scanlon sold 12,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 200,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,166,177. The trade was a 5.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 1.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of UL Solutions

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULS. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in UL Solutions by 119.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 143,431 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,090,000 after acquiring an additional 78,081 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in UL Solutions by 104.3% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 460,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,953,000 after acquiring an additional 234,913 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in UL Solutions by 11.9% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 123,771 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,981,000 after acquiring an additional 13,205 shares during the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers bought a new stake in UL Solutions in the first quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Creative Planning bought a new stake in UL Solutions in the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000.

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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