Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Park Avenue Securities LLC

Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,393 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,048 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,635,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $521,399,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 27,182.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $459,676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806,529 shares in the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,394,000 after acquiring an additional 708,432 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 206.7% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Ecolab by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.13.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE ECL opened at $266.44 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.10, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $249.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.58. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $220.96 and a 12 month high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS 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 net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 19,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.