Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Holdings Lifted by Los Angeles Capital Management LLC

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1,904.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,199 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 147,456 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC owned 0.05% of Ecolab worth $30,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ECL. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup raised their price objective on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $233.65.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock traded up $0.73 during trading on Friday, hitting $227.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,068,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,213,130. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $224.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $202.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $231.86. The company has a market cap of $65.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.