AGF Management Ltd. Has $20.90 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

AGF Management Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 195 shares during the period. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $20,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $437,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 14.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,182 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,834,000 after purchasing an additional 892 shares during the period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,404,000. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 187.4% during the 3rd quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 2,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $627,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the period. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $420,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 2.5 %

Ecolab stock opened at $259.08 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.11, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $251.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $249.90. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on ECL shares. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.