Ecolab Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.53 (NYSE:ECL)

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 23rd, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 21st will be given a dividend of 0.53 per share by the basic materials company on Monday, April 17th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 20th.

Ecolab has raised its dividend by an average of 3.7% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 31 consecutive years. Ecolab has a dividend payout ratio of 36.9% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ecolab to earn $5.56 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.12 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 38.1%.

Ecolab Trading Down 2.6 %

ECL stock opened at $154.58 on Friday. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $131.04 and a 1-year high of $185.50. The firm has a market cap of $43.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $155.78 and its 200-day moving average is $151.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 7.69%. The company had revenue of $3.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.28 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 4,404 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.95, for a total value of $717,631.80. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 12,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,027,423.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 247 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 25,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 56.0% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 298 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 107 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Ecolab from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $155.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Mizuho increased their price target on Ecolab from $158.00 to $163.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ecolab from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Barclays increased their price target on Ecolab from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ecolab from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, December 9th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.13.

About Ecolab

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Ecolab, Inc engages in the provision of products and services in the field of water, hygiene, and energy. It operates through the following segments: Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, Global Energy & Life Science, and Other. The Global Industrial segment consists of the water, food and beverage, paper, and downstream operating segments.