Everence Capital Management Inc. Sells 1,860 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Everence Capital Management Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 37.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,860 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. United Bank lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. United Bank now owns 4,149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 6,172 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,090,000 after purchasing an additional 434 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 23.0% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 6.7% during the 1st quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 1,707 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 107 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. increased its position in Ecolab by 17.1% during the 1st quarter. Candriam Luxembourg S.C.A. now owns 73,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,920,000 after purchasing an additional 10,676 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $184.00 to $232.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.47.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE ECL opened at $219.25 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $222.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $198.63. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $231.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.77, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.60%.

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.