Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by First Interstate Bank

First Interstate Bank lowered its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 169 shares during the quarter. First Interstate Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $469,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after buying an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership grew its position in Ecolab by 526.2% during the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,298,000 after buying an additional 47,863 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after buying an additional 9,695 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $35,040,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 167,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,128,000 after buying an additional 47,351 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.6 %

ECL stock traded up $1.31 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $220.35. 1,733,415 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,213,440. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $221.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $198.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced 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 business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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 report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.47.

Ecolab Company 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.