Northwest Investment Counselors LLC Sells 230 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Northwest Investment Counselors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 17,474 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 230 shares during the quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,466,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Robbins Farley bought a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ECL traded down $0.86 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $230.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 820,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,215,010. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.02 billion, a PE ratio of 48.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $215.64 and a 200-day moving average of $193.64. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Barclays upgraded shares of 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. 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 research note on Wednesday. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $220.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $222.19.

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.