Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 39,135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 995 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth $25,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Robbins Farley acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $219.25 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $198.77. 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 Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $231.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. UBS Group upped 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.47.

Ecolab 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.