Equitable Trust Co. Has $253,000 Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Equitable Trust Co. decreased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,274 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 231 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $253,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth $25,000. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Robbins Farley bought a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $226.85 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $219.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $196.30. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $231.86. 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 company has a market capitalization of $64.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.36, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased 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. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $226.76.

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.