Forsta AP Fonden Sells 3,900 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden has reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 4.3%, now owning 86,900 shares valued at approximately $22 million.
• Ecolab reported an EPS of $1.89 for the last quarter, slightly missing analysts' expectations of $1.90.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.0% and a payout ratio of 34.71%.

Forsta AP Fonden cut its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 86,900 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,900 shares during the quarter. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Ecolab were worth $22,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,188,736,000 after purchasing an additional 261,489 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,036,485,000 after purchasing an additional 93,409 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $831,744,000 after buying an additional 200,612 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Ecolab by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after buying an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,718,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $689,154,000 after acquiring an additional 173,298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $269.70 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $274.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.01, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $267.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $257.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $273.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Baird R W raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $290.71.

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.

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