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

Northcape Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 59 shares during the quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,379,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $916,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 6,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GS Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 0.4% during the third quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 16,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,717,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:ECL traded up $4.48 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $226.15. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,358,067 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,220,282. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.21, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $224.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $201.77.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ECL. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $238.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Mizuho raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.47.

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.