Natixis Advisors L.P. Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 146,098 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,476 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors L.P.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $28,978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 38,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,561,000 after purchasing an additional 6,078 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 203,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $34,501,000 after buying an additional 11,448 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% during the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,695 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $795,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 333.1% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $199,000 after buying an additional 906 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 28.3% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Wolfe Research began coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.88.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $227.50 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $231.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $65.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $224.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

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.