Lindbrook Capital LLC Trims Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Lindbrook Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 33.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 966 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 494 shares during the quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $192,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third 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 bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE ECL opened at $219.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a market cap of $62.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.79, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $199.93. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective 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. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.47.

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.