PFW Advisors LLC Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 5,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,262,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,317,811,000 after purchasing an additional 68,043 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $981,007,000 after purchasing an additional 35,027 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after purchasing an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after buying an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $358,250,000 after buying an additional 8,332 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:ECL traded up $3.73 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $233.45. The stock had a trading volume of 1,368,391 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,119,575. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The stock has a market cap of $66.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.74, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. The business’s 50 day moving average is $243.00 and its 200 day moving average is $245.65. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $195.49 and a fifty-two week high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total value of $15,850,657.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.47.

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.