Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Has $839,000 Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. cut its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 226 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership grew its position in Ecolab by 526.2% during the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after buying an additional 47,863 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,338,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares during the period. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $35,040,000. Vest Financial LLC lifted 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 worth $33,128,000 after purchasing an additional 47,351 shares during the period. Finally, Howland Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Howland Capital Management LLC now owns 183,159 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,428,000 after purchasing an additional 9,365 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of ECL opened at $219.04 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $231.86. The firm has a market cap of $62.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $221.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $198.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30.

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 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 business had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 47.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $238.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.47.

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.