Unique Wealth Strategies LLC Buys New Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Unique Wealth Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,422 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $679,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Robbins Farley bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $1.31 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $221.10. The stock had a trading volume of 1,242,930 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,060,937. The company has a market capitalization of $63.21 billion, a PE ratio of 46.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $223.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $201.38. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86. 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 released its 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 business had revenue of $3.94 billion for 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Bank of America raised Ecolab from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $230.47.

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.