UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $79.38, but opened at $76.06. UL Solutions shares last traded at $77.32, with a volume of 2,665,701 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on ULS. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of UL Solutions from $77.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of UL Solutions from $75.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on UL Solutions from $69.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (up previously from $70.00) on shares of UL Solutions in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of UL Solutions in a report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, UL Solutions currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $81.71.

UL Solutions Stock Down 2.7%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $80.45 and a 200-day moving average of $73.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The firm has a market cap of $15.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.24 and a beta of 0.92.

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The company reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.09. UL Solutions had a return on equity of 34.49% and a net margin of 11.29%.The firm had revenue of $783.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $769.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.49 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that UL Solutions Inc. will post 1.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UL Solutions Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 28th will be issued a $0.13 dividend. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 28th. UL Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 31.14%.

Institutional Trading of UL Solutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its position in UL Solutions by 48.4% during the 2nd quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 524 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Elequin Capital LP bought a new position in shares of UL Solutions during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of UL Solutions during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of UL Solutions by 3,070.0% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 634 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of UL Solutions by 28.2% in the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 731 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 161 shares during the last quarter.

UL Solutions Company Profile

UL Solutions Inc provides safety science services worldwide. It operates through three segments: Industrial, Consumer, and Software and Advisory. The Industrial segment provides testing, inspection, and certification services across various end markets, including energy, industrial automation, engineered materials, and built environment, as well as stakeholders, such as manufacturers, building owners, end users, and regulators.