Accredited Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 140 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.47.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $255.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $248.81 and a 200-day moving average of $247.79. 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 stock has a market cap of $72.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.57, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $220.96 and a 1-year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

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.