Howland Capital Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Howland Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 186,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,734 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for 2.1% of Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Howland Capital Management LLC owned 0.07% of Ecolab worth $43,255,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 2,805.1% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,635,000 after purchasing an additional 37,167 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $749,000. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% in the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after acquiring an additional 47,863 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,338,000 after acquiring an additional 9,695 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.5 %

Ecolab stock traded up $1.23 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $244.50. 985,334 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,167,149. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $245.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.40, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.11. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $236.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $221.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $243.44.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, 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 Company 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.