13,757 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Bought by Leeward Financial Partners LLC

Leeward Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 13,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,729,000. Ecolab accounts for 1.3% of Leeward Financial Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Robbins Farley bought a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Ecolab from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Bank of America raised 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 target on Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $227.88.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $3.64 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $222.15. 1,398,017 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,213,464. The company has a market cap of $63.51 billion, a PE ratio of 46.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $231.86. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $220.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $196.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 18th. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

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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