Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) is Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's 10th Largest Position

Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 312,143 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,588 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up about 3.3% of Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.11% of Ecolab worth $61,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $25,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. bought a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at $27,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $238.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.4 %

Ecolab stock traded up $0.97 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $221.72. 1,134,523 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,210,099. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $231.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.10. The business's 50-day moving average price is $221.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $197.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Ecolab Company Profile

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.