Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 32.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 3,940 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,623,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 4,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 73,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,920,000 after buying an additional 10,676 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Raymond James started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday, November 30th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $210.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.19.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $230.90 on Friday. 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 company has a market cap of $66.02 billion, a PE ratio of 48.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $231.86. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $215.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $193.38.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.60%.

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.