Arlington Trust Co LLC Has $715,000 Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Arlington Trust Co LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 327.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,763 shares during the period. Arlington Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $715,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% in the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after acquiring an additional 47,863 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,040,000. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 39.6% in the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 167,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,128,000 after buying an additional 47,351 shares in the last quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 183,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,428,000 after buying an additional 9,365 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First PREMIER Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $2,836,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.4 %

NYSE:ECL traded up $3.17 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $227.75. The company had a trading volume of 1,410,422 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,157,055. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $231.86. 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 firm has a market cap of $65.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $219.11 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $195.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $238.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $226.76.

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.