Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Avior Wealth Management LLC

Avior Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,033 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 127 shares during the period. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Barclays raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.47.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $220.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.01 billion, a PE ratio of 46.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $231.86. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $222.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $198.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 47.60%.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.