Hexagon Capital Partners LLC Purchases 81 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 150.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $27,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $916,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 6,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GS Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the third quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 16,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,717,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $227.49 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $224.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $202.54. The firm has a market cap of $65.04 billion, a PE ratio of 42.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James boosted their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.88.

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.