Shufro Rose & Co. LLC Purchases 484 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Shufro Rose & Co. LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,163 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 484 shares during the period. Shufro Rose & Co. LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,256,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.13.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $261.06 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $247.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.13. The stock has a market cap of $74.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $220.96 and a 12-month high of $273.69. 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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders 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 yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 this hyperlink. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.