HF Advisory Group LLC Cuts Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

HF Advisory Group LLC lowered its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,318 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 980 shares during the quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt lifted its stake in Ecolab by 125.8% during the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 657 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 39,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,762,000 after purchasing an additional 995 shares in the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $796,000. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $916,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, LifePlan Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $839,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE ECL traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $219.66. The company had a trading volume of 171,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,195,445. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $222.70 and its 200 day moving average is $198.63. The company has a market capitalization of $62.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.