LifePlan Financial LLC Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

LifePlan Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 4,229 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $839,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL traded down $2.65 on Monday, hitting $219.04. 965,493 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,206,701. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $231.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $221.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $197.78. The stock has a market cap of $62.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.10.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on ECL. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $238.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays raised shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price target for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Mizuho raised shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Ecolab from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $230.47.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ECL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.