LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Sells 4,892 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC trimmed its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,621 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,892 shares during the quarter. Ecolab comprises 2.8% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $18,768,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 58.0% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,510,224 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $802,069,000 after acquiring an additional 2,023,685 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $276,712,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 65,845.5% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,835,923 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $267,237,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833,139 shares during the period. Capital International Investors acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $304,475,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 117.9% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,669,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,185,000 after buying an additional 903,307 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $1.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $230.41. The company had a trading volume of 226,483 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,222,986. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $231.86. The company has a market capitalization of $65.88 billion, a PE ratio of 48.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.10. 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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $214.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $193.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.27 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on ECL shares. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $238.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted 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. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $222.19.

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.