Arvest Trust Co. N A Lowers Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Arvest Trust Co. N A decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,641 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 749 shares during the period. Arvest Trust Co. N A’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $8,458,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. First Foundation Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% in the second quarter. First Foundation Advisors now owns 1,709 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $319,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the third quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 16,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,717,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 3.6% in the third quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on ECL. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $210.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $238.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $226.76.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE ECL traded up $2.97 during trading on Friday, reaching $227.55. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 983,099 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,207,208. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.06 billion, a PE ratio of 46.89, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $218.52 and a 200-day moving average price of $195.29. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

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.