AIA Group Ltd Lowers Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

AIA Group Ltd cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 97.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 101,189 shares during the quarter. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Robbins Farley purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ECL. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $237.00 to $256.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $218.20 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $231.86. The company has a market cap of $62.39 billion, a PE ratio of 45.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $223.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $199.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results 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 net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.60%.

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.