Wall Street Zen Downgrades UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) to Hold

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages also recently commented on ULS. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on UL Solutions in a research report on Monday, April 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings raised UL Solutions from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of UL Solutions from $87.80 to $106.40 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of UL Solutions from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 6th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of UL Solutions from $88.00 to $108.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UL Solutions has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.54.

UL Solutions Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE ULS opened at $85.60 on Friday. UL Solutions has a 12-month low of $61.64 and a 12-month high of $107.54. The stock has a market cap of $17.25 billion, a PE ratio of 50.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $94.57 and a 200 day moving average of $86.95.

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $758.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $748.50 million. UL Solutions had a net margin of 11.24% and a return on equity of 30.99%. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that UL Solutions will post 2.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at UL Solutions

In other news, Director Friedrich Hecker sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.04, for a total value of $408,160.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 13,180 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,344,887.20. The trade was a 23.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Gitte Schjotz sold 12,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $99.71, for a total transaction of $1,198,015.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 69,206 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,900,530.26. This represents a 14.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 65,705 shares of company stock valued at $6,460,300 over the last quarter. 1.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of UL Solutions

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ULS. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its stake in UL Solutions by 28.3% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 23,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,404,000 after purchasing an additional 5,200 shares in the last quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of UL Solutions by 17.2% in the second quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,000 after buying an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of UL Solutions by 42.4% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Pacific Excel Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UL Solutions in the 2nd quarter valued at $264,000. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of UL Solutions by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 9,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $815,000 after buying an additional 437 shares during the period.

About UL Solutions

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.