Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $282,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $704,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 1.3% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 0.4% during the third quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 16,041 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,717,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 3.6% during the third quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 1,875 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $219.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $199.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $231.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

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.