Greenleaf Trust Lowers Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Greenleaf Trust reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,264 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 72 shares during the quarter. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,433,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Robbins Farley purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $218.20 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $223.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $199.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week 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 company has a market cap of $62.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.47.

About Ecolab

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.