M&T Bank Corp Decreases Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

M&T Bank Corp decreased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 82,461 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,952 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp's holdings in Ecolab were worth $16,357,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 18.6% in the third quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 38,730 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,561,000 after purchasing an additional 6,078 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 203,664 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $34,501,000 after acquiring an additional 11,448 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% in the third quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,695 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $795,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its position in Ecolab by 333.1% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,178 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $199,000 after purchasing an additional 906 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 28.3% during the third quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,460 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.74 on Friday, hitting $227.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,068,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,224,187. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock's 50 day moving average is $224.62 and its 200-day moving average is $203.51. The company has a market capitalization of $65.04 billion, a PE ratio of 42.13, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Ecolab from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, January 8th. Barclays upgraded shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven 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.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.88.

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.