UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS) Short Interest Down 34.3% in December

UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,110,000 shares, a drop of 34.3% from the November 30th total of 1,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 701,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.6 days. Currently, 1.8% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Gitte Schjotz sold 5,941 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $52.58, for a total transaction of $312,377.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 69,191 shares in the company, valued at $3,638,062.78. This trade represents a 7.91 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On UL Solutions

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ULS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in UL Solutions by 29.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,516,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $222,658,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,851 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of UL Solutions by 55.2% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 600,936 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,639,000 after purchasing an additional 213,635 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in UL Solutions in the third quarter worth approximately $395,000. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in UL Solutions by 15.5% during the third quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 7,733 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after acquiring an additional 1,035 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP raised its stake in shares of UL Solutions by 136.7% during the third quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 710,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,003,000 after acquiring an additional 410,000 shares in the last quarter.

UL Solutions Stock Performance

NYSE ULS traded down $0.25 on Monday, hitting $50.16. The stock had a trading volume of 1,053,996 shares, compared to its average volume of 730,778. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $51.99 and a 200-day moving average of $49.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 1.31 and a current ratio of 1.31. UL Solutions has a 52-week low of $33.15 and a 52-week high of $59.23.

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $731.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $709.41 million. UL Solutions had a return on equity of 40.88% and a net margin of 10.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that UL Solutions will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

UL Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 9th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ULS. Citigroup started coverage on UL Solutions in a research report on Monday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on UL Solutions from $56.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of UL Solutions from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of UL Solutions from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of UL Solutions from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.00.

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.