Avior Wealth Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Avior Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 11,033 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 127 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,188,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 4,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,090,000 after buying an additional 434 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its stake in Ecolab by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 73,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $12,920,000 after buying an additional 10,676 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.6 %

NYSE ECL opened at $220.38 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $231.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $222.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $198.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $63.01 billion, a PE ratio of 46.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ECL. Mizuho raised 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. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.47.

Ecolab 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.