National Pension Service Boosts Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

National Pension Service increased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 612,359 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 21,208 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $121,461,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James lifted their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Barclays upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.88.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $233.34. 1,449,612 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,213,236. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $225.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $204.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.63 billion, a PE ratio of 43.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $234.68.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.