Impax Asset Management Group plc Decreases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Impax Asset Management Group plc lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 653,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,646 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned about 0.23% of Ecolab worth $153,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its stake in Ecolab by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly 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. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ECL. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $264.47 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $74.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $244.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $247.78. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $268.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

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.