Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by OLD National Bancorp IN

OLD National Bancorp IN cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 958 shares during the quarter. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $282,000. Cetera Trust Company N.A acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $804,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in Ecolab by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 27,743 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,503,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its holdings in Ecolab by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 149,949 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,742,000 after buying an additional 7,236 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 4,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on ECL. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $219.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.79, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $223.67 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $199.93. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect 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 was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

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.