Mutual of America Capital Management LLC Has $7.94 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mutual of America Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 31,332 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 883 shares during the period. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,943,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 176.7% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Seaport Res Ptn raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho increased their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $290.71.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $268.65 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $76.20 billion, a PE ratio of 35.87, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a fifty day moving average of $266.96 and a two-hundred day moving average of $257.06. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $274.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.