Eagle Ridge Investment Management Trims Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Eagle Ridge Investment Management lowered its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 266 shares during the quarter. Eagle Ridge Investment Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,666,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Robbins Farley purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position 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 $0.44 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $221.54. The stock had a trading volume of 716,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,199,318. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $223.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $201.38. 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 $63.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.16, a PEG ratio of 2.58 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 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 company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.47.

About Ecolab

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.