OFI Invest Asset Management Purchases New Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 7,819 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,769,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI now owns 48,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,390,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,499,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $586,309,000 after purchasing an additional 83,328 shares in the last quarter. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC now owns 45,236 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,600,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Hamilton Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 5,747 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,347,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of ECL opened at $269.68 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $76.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $250.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $249.68.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

About Ecolab

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.