Redmond Asset Management LLC Acquires 57 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Redmond Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,469 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for approximately 1.5% of Redmond Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Redmond Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,752 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $308,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $900,000. Finally, United Capital Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,126,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.6%

Ecolab stock opened at $280.09 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $281.96. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $268.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $258.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44. The company has a market cap of $79.44 billion, a PE ratio of 37.39, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.06.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.21.

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.