Bristlecone Advisors LLC Has $2.95 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Bristlecone Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 14,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 322 shares during the quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Robbins Farley bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Ecolab stock traded up $3.17 on Friday, reaching $227.75. 1,410,422 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,157,055. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $231.86. The company has a market capitalization of $65.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.55, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.10. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $219.11 and a 200 day moving average of $195.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. 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 presently 47.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Piper Sandler began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $226.76.

Ecolab Company 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.