Two Sigma Advisers LP Has $60.77 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Two Sigma Advisers LP lowered its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 14.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 259,346 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 44,100 shares during the quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $60,770,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $521,399,000. Winslow Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% during the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,394,000 after purchasing an additional 708,432 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $179,749,000 after purchasing an additional 516,970 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $80,564,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:ECL opened at $261.22 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $246.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.