Confluence Investment Management LLC Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 118,739 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,417,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 36.0% during the 4th quarter. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda now owns 755 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $150,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 23.9% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 79 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its stake in Ecolab by 183.3% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 9,148 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 5,919 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $914,000. Finally, Fairman Group LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of ECL traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $244.62. The company had a trading volume of 569,569 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,150,408. 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 $245.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.12. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $229.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $216.48.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Piper Sandler started coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Barclays raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Raymond James raised their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Mizuho raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.56.

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.