Keybank National Association OH Grows Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Keybank National Association OH boosted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,381 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 271 shares during the quarter. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,441,490 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $337,770,000 after acquiring an additional 38,402 shares during the last quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 70,740 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,576,000 after purchasing an additional 1,800 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 19,002 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,453,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,528 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $358,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,993 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $701,000 after buying an additional 155 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of ECL opened at $269.87 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $248.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $249.30. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $217.05 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $76.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

Ecolab 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.