Oakworth Capital Inc. Sells 62 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Oakworth Capital Inc. lessened its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 21.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 232 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 62 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $46,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $796,000. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $916,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. LifePlan Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $839,000. Keel Point LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Invesco LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $213,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target 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. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $219.25 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $231.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.69 billion, a PE ratio of 45.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $222.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $198.63.

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 the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.