Invesco Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. reduced its holdings in Ecolab Inc. by 9.4% during the 1st quarter, now owning approximately 2.71 million shares worth $687.32 million.
• Ecolab is set to pay a quarterly dividend of $0.65 on October 15th, reflecting a 1.0% dividend yield and an annualized payout of $2.60.
• Analysts have given Ecolab a consensus rating of "Buy", with an average target price of $290.71, following an earnings report that missed expectations by $0.01.

Invesco Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 9.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,711,109 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 282,395 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.96% of Ecolab worth $687,320,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 164.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,752 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,051,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P boosted its stake in Ecolab by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 4,019 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 11.0% in the fourth quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 22,584 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,293,000 after acquiring an additional 2,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 9,309 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,181,000 after acquiring an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $272.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.43, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50-day moving average is $267.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $257.62. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $274.17.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price 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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