Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Acquires 23,173 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1,448.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 24,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,173 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,805,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $246,000. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in Ecolab by 64.5% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $795,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 68.6% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,202 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 1,303 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 101,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,014,000 after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $261.06 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $74.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.37, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The business’s 50 day moving average is $247.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $248.15.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during 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%. Ecolab’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, 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 transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Five investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.13.

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.