Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Increases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 20.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Robbins Farley bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $193.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $238.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $222.19.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $230.90 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.02 billion, a PE ratio of 48.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average is $215.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $193.38. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year 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.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.94 billion during 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%. Ecolab’s revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.27 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

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.