Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Forbes J M & Co. LLP

Forbes J M & Co. LLP raised its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,515 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 284 shares during the quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $8,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Mariner LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.9% in the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 47,900 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $9,993,000 after purchasing an additional 2,681 shares in the last quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 2.4% in the third quarter. Madison Asset Management LLC now owns 26,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,526,000 after acquiring an additional 633 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $254,000. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC now owns 17,499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,105,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Finally, JB Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. JB Capital LLC now owns 10,286 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,413,000 after buying an additional 576 shares during the period. 75.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

In other Ecolab news, Director Tracy B. Mckibben acquired 1,475 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 29th. The shares were bought at an average price of $170.00 per share, with a total value of $250,750.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 6,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,146,820. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $171.01 per share, for a total transaction of $102,606.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 11,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,941,134.51. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $210.00 to $196.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 22nd. Boenning Scattergood lowered Ecolab from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 15th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Ecolab from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $179.00 price target for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Ecolab from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $245.00 to $225.00 in a research report on Friday, January 21st. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $205.40.

Shares of ECL traded up $1.44 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $157.65. 952,308 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,530,206. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $172.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $197.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 0.83. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $154.31 and a twelve month high of $238.93. The company has a market capitalization of $45.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.05, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 1.05.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 26th. The basic materials company reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.82. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.35% and a net margin of 8.45%. The business had revenue of $3.27 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.81 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 5.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.51 per share. This represents a $2.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 53.13%.

About Ecolab (Get Rating)

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segments. 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