Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Cuts Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 32.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 23,594 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after buying an additional 2,051 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares in the last quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership increased its position in Ecolab by 526.2% in the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after purchasing an additional 47,863 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $35,040,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 167,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,128,000 after purchasing an additional 47,351 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Barclays upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE:ECL traded down $1.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $218.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,586,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,014,656. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $223.34 and a 200-day moving average of $199.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.37 billion, a PE ratio of 45.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.05%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.