Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Takes $3.15 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. purchased a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 15,870 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,148,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. AE Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 18.4% in the third quarter. AE Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,843 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $990,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 21,406 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,626,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 100.1% during the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $971,000 after purchasing an additional 2,867 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 19,109 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,237,000 after buying an additional 247 shares during the period. Finally, Caprock Group LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 1.8% in the third quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 5,133 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $873,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of ECL stock traded down $0.99 on Thursday, hitting $219.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,072,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,204,952. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $231.86. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $223.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $200.43.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.27 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 47.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $238.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.47.

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.