Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in UL Solutions Inc. $ULS

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in UL Solutions Inc. (NYSE:ULS) by 543.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 192,915 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 162,915 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in UL Solutions were worth $15,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Jag Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of UL Solutions by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 9,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $719,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in shares of UL Solutions by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $109,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of UL Solutions in the fourth quarter valued at $238,000. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its position in shares of UL Solutions by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 124,400 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,810,000 after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Investment Management Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of UL Solutions during the 4th quarter worth $1,328,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Friedrich Hecker sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.04, for a total value of $408,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 13,180 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,344,887.20. This represents a 23.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Alberto Uggetti sold 6,100 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total value of $610,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 10,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,030,700. This represents a 37.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 43,100 shares of company stock valued at $4,063,215 in the last 90 days. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on ULS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on UL Solutions from $88.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. UBS Group upped their price objective on UL Solutions from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Telsey Advisory Group set a $100.00 price objective on UL Solutions in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on UL Solutions from $102.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded UL Solutions from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.54.

UL Solutions Trading Up 0.0%

ULS stock opened at $102.87 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $20.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.16, a PEG ratio of 4.00 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $90.49 and a 200-day simple moving average of $83.45. UL Solutions Inc. has a 52 week low of $61.64 and a 52 week high of $107.54.

UL Solutions (NYSE:ULS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.42 by $0.08. UL Solutions had a return on equity of 30.99% and a net margin of 11.24%.The firm had revenue of $758.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $748.50 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.37 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that UL Solutions Inc. will post 2.1 EPS for the current year.

UL Solutions Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 8th. Investors of record on Friday, May 29th will be issued a $0.145 dividend. This represents a $0.58 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 29th. UL Solutions’s dividend payout ratio is currently 33.92%.

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.