GAMMA Investing LLC Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,077 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $610,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Robbins Farley acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $220.02. The stock had a trading volume of 219,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,200,205. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $223.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $200.29. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $231.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.91, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ECL. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.