Sentry Investment Management LLC Lowers Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sentry Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 143 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $264,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Live Oak Investment Partners purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $238.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.6 %

ECL stock opened at $220.35 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $231.86. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $222.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $198.49. The firm has a market cap of $63.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.00, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid 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 1.03%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 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.