Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Holdings Lowered by Financial Perspectives Inc

Financial Perspectives Inc reduced its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 774 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 51 shares during the quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $154,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. AE Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 18.4% in the 3rd quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $990,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares in the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 0.7% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 21,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,626,000 after acquiring an additional 145 shares during the last quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.2% in the third quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 173,794 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,529,000 after buying an additional 2,077 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 100.1% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $971,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 19,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,237,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $238.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.37 on Tuesday, hitting $219.68. 717,046 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,212,988. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.81 billion, a PE ratio of 45.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $231.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $223.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $199.93.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.60%.

Ecolab Profile

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.