Signaturefd LLC Acquires 197 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Robbins Farley purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $219.31 on Tuesday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $223.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $199.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $62.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $231.86.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $238.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.