Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Waldron Private Wealth LLC

Waldron Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,059 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Waldron Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $409,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL opened at $219.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $62.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $221.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.27 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.