UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) Stock Price Down 3.9% – What’s Next?

UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS) shares traded down 3.9% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $84.19 and last traded at $83.8740. 501,620 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 1,004,126 shares. The stock had previously closed at $87.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on UL Solutions from $97.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 20th. Citigroup reduced their target price on UL Solutions from $88.10 to $87.80 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings cut UL Solutions from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on UL Solutions from $84.00 to $88.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut 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. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.60.

UL Solutions Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 1.32 and a current ratio of 1.32. The company has a market capitalization of $17.44 billion, a PE ratio of 54.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.95.

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 19th. The company reported $0.53 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 business had revenue of $789.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $782.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.49 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that UL Solutions Inc. will post 1.69 earnings per share for the current year.

UL Solutions Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.145 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 2nd. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a boost from UL Solutions’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.13. UL Solutions’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.48%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of UL Solutions by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 8,043,735 shares of the company’s stock valued at $634,616,000 after purchasing an additional 495,424 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of UL Solutions by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,740,636 shares of the company’s stock worth $531,567,000 after purchasing an additional 1,213,188 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in UL Solutions by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,878,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,618,000 after buying an additional 545,528 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in UL Solutions by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 3,942,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $279,394,000 after buying an additional 674,088 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in UL Solutions by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,024,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $238,538,000 after buying an additional 54,910 shares during 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.