Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Strong Tower Advisory Services

Strong Tower Advisory Services lessened its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up about 0.7% of Strong Tower Advisory Services’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Robbins Farley bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday, November 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $210.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ecolab from $220.00 to $237.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $238.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $222.19.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL opened at $230.90 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $215.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $193.38. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86. The stock has a market cap of $66.02 billion, a PE ratio of 48.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.60%.

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.