Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Mirova US LLC

Mirova US LLC decreased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,966,508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 11,422 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for approximately 5.9% of Mirova US LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Mirova US LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $390,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 58.0% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,510,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $802,069,000 after buying an additional 2,023,685 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $276,712,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 65,845.5% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,835,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $267,237,000 after buying an additional 1,833,139 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $304,475,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 117.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,669,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,185,000 after buying an additional 903,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Bank of America raised Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded up $1.34 on Wednesday, hitting $220.38. 1,733,417 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,028,096. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $231.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.01 billion, a PE ratio of 46.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $222.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.