Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Buys 8,621 Shares of US Ecology Inc (ECOL)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of US Ecology Inc (NASDAQ:ECOL) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 828,551 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,621 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned about 3.80% of US Ecology worth $40,724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECOL. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of US Ecology by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 14,809 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $728,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in US Ecology by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 466,291 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $22,924,000 after buying an additional 28,551 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank raised its stake in US Ecology by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 23,414 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,195,000 after buying an additional 1,260 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Asset Management PLC UK raised its stake in US Ecology by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Asset Management PLC UK now owns 914,217 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $44,933,000 after buying an additional 124,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Epoch Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in US Ecology by 16.0% in the third quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 593,990 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $26,635,000 after buying an additional 81,931 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.26% of the company’s stock.

Shares of US Ecology Inc (NASDAQ:ECOL) traded up 0.32% on Friday, hitting $46.35. 116,399 shares of the stock traded hands. The stock has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.52 and a beta of 0.95. US Ecology Inc has a 52-week low of $38.00 and a 52-week high of $54.00. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $47.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.45.

US Ecology (NASDAQ:ECOL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 16th. The business services provider reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.09. US Ecology had a return on equity of 12.57% and a net margin of 6.87%. The company had revenue of $117.20 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.67 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.36 earnings per share. US Ecology’s revenue for the quarter was down 15.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that US Ecology Inc will post $1.79 EPS for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 28th. Investors of record on Friday, April 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.55%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 19th. US Ecology’s dividend payout ratio is presently 45.86%.

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ECOL has been the topic of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity initiated coverage on shares of US Ecology in a research note on Tuesday, January 10th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Zacks Investment Research raised shares of US Ecology from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 17th. Finally, Barclays PLC reissued a “sell” rating and set a $41.00 price objective on shares of US Ecology in a research note on Friday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. US Ecology has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $48.88.

About US Ecology

US Ecology, Inc is a provider of environmental services to commercial and government entities. The Company offers treatment, disposal and recycling of hazardous, non-hazardous and radioactive waste, as well as a range of field and industrial services. The Company operates in two business segments: Environmental Services, and Field & Industrial Services.