Ecolab Inc. (ECL) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.57 on April 15th

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECLGet Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 22nd, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be paid a dividend of 0.57 per share by the basic materials company on Monday, April 15th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 18th.

Ecolab has increased its dividend payment by an average of 4.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend every year for the last 32 years. Ecolab has a payout ratio of 31.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect Ecolab to earn $7.23 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.28 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 31.5%.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $226.77 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $64.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $210.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $190.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.30. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $153.87 and a 52-week high of $227.27.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECLGet Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 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 analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.27 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ecolab will post 6.39 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 8th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $220.00 to $237.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Bank of America raised shares of 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. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $238.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $219.06.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on ECL

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. bought a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $36,000. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 62.5% in the 4th quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 247 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 95 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Clear Street Markets LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 25,000.0% in the 4th quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 251 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. 73.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ecolab

(Get Free Report)

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.

See Also

Dividend History for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL)

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