Bell Bank Decreases Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Bell Bank lessened its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 36.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,771 shares during the quarter. Bell Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Drive Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $211,000. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership raised its position in Ecolab by 526.2% in the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,298,000 after purchasing an additional 47,863 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc raised its position in Ecolab by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,796 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $555,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. SNS Financial Group LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 3,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $710,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Savings Bank raised its position in Ecolab by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Essex Savings Bank now owns 3,262 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $647,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock traded down $0.21 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $227.72. 468,913 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,215,194. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $231.86. The business’s 50-day moving average is $216.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $194.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 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 issued its 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 firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on ECL. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ecolab from $220.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Barclays raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $222.19.

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.