Simplicity Solutions LLC Reduces Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Simplicity Solutions LLC trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,252 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 145 shares during the period. Simplicity Solutions LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $645,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 1,776 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $352,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Birch Hill Investment Advisors LLC now owns 312,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,914,000 after purchasing an additional 5,588 shares during the last quarter. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Beacon Financial Planning Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $226,000. Finally, Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. now owns 1,373 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Raymond James lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Seaport Res Ptn cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $200.00 to $220.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $238.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $219.25 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $222.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $198.63. The company has a market cap of $62.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.77, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The company’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued 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 was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.