Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 9.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,855,130 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 155,151 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.65% of Ecolab worth $367,965,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,877,417 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,875,434,000 after buying an additional 387,545 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,774,960 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $470,078,000 after purchasing an additional 123,572 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.7% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,555,758 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $432,945,000 after purchasing an additional 41,545 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in Ecolab by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,294,838 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $391,224,000 after purchasing an additional 85,985 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,173,210 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $368,142,000 after acquiring an additional 48,375 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.3 %

ECL stock traded up $0.57 during trading on Monday, reaching $221.67. 1,252,191 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,206,406. 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 market capitalization of $63.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $223.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $201.38. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. The company 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 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 business earned $1.27 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 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%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $238.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average 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.

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