Bailard Inc. Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Bailard Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,507 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the quarter. Bailard Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,703 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,123,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 16,877 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,354,000 after purchasing an additional 352 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $610,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 14.1% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 1,884 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded up $0.95 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $220.74. The company had a trading volume of 297,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,193,523. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $223.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $200.56. 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 $63.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 payout ratio is presently 47.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.47.

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.