Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Position Decreased by Bristlecone Advisors LLC

Bristlecone Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 322 shares during the period. Bristlecone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. United Bank lifted its stake in Ecolab by 2.7% during the first quarter. United Bank now owns 4,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 7.6% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after buying an additional 434 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 23.0% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 6.7% during the first quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $301,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 17.1% during the first quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 73,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,920,000 after buying an additional 10,676 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on ECL shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target 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. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $226.76.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock traded up $3.17 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $227.75. 1,410,422 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,157,055. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $231.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $219.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $195.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 47.60%.

Ecolab 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.