Cambridge Trust Co. Grows Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Cambridge Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 96,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 302 shares during the period. Cambridge Trust Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $19,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Robbins Farley bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5 %

ECL traded down $1.18 during trading on Thursday, hitting $218.07. 430,282 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,199,339. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $231.86. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $222.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $198.63. The firm has a market cap of $62.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS 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 paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ecolab from $212.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Raymond James lifted their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Finally, Bank of America raised Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.47.

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.