Buffington Mohr McNeal Sells 539 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Buffington Mohr McNeal cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,527 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 539 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up 1.3% of Buffington Mohr McNeal’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ECL traded up $1.75 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $220.79. 470,195 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,196,327. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50-day moving average of $221.97 and a 200-day moving average of $198.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 47.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.47.

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.