Headlands Technologies LLC Acquires 57 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Robbins Farley bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $238.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $221.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $63.21 billion, a PE ratio of 46.16, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $231.86. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $223.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.16.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Ecolab Company 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.