Ledyard National Bank Cuts Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Ledyard National Bank lessened its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 18.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 260 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Robbins Farley purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Raymond James upped their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Up 2.7 %

NYSE ECL traded up $5.96 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $227.63. The stock had a trading volume of 644,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,198,920. 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 $65.08 billion, a PE ratio of 46.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $224.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $201.77. 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 (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The company 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 earned $1.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.