Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. Boosts Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 397.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 11,641 shares during the quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.9 %

ECL opened at $251.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.12, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $254.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.04. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

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.