Sentry Investment Management LLC Sells 143 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sentry Investment Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 143 shares during the period. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $264,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Invesco LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $213,000. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,920 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 448 shares in the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,059 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 109,258 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,671,000 after purchasing an additional 4,899 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $220.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $63.00 billion, a PE ratio of 46.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $222.38 and a 200-day moving average of $198.49. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $231.86.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $238.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James lifted 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.