Arlington Trust Co LLC Increases Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Arlington Trust Co LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 327.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,607 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,763 shares during the quarter. Arlington Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $715,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ECL. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Robbins Farley purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $3.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $227.75. 1,410,422 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,157,055. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $219.11 and a 200 day moving average of $195.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $226.76.

Ecolab 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.