Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Position Boosted by Savant Capital LLC

Savant Capital LLC boosted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,505 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 152 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth $25,000. MCF Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 42.5% during the fourth quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Raymond James boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.88.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $229.01 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41. The business’s fifty day moving average is $224.79 and its 200-day moving average is $203.99. The stock has a market cap of $65.40 billion, a PE ratio of 42.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. 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 payout ratio is 42.22%.

About Ecolab

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.