Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Trims Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lessened its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 226 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $839,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Ecolab by 526.2% during the 4th quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after purchasing an additional 47,863 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,338,000 after acquiring an additional 9,695 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $35,040,000. Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 39.6% during the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 167,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,128,000 after buying an additional 47,351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howland Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 5.4% during the 4th quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 183,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,428,000 after buying an additional 9,365 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Raymond James raised their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $238.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $219.04 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $231.86. The stock has a market cap of $62.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $221.97 and a 200-day moving average of $198.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.