Amalgamated Bank Cuts Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Amalgamated Bank trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 64,436 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,698 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, MCF Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 208 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL traded up $0.74 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $227.50. 1,068,171 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,224,187. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $224.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $202.54. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $65.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Wolfe Research started coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven equities 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.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.88.

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.