Short Interest in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Increases By 22.3%

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) saw a significant growth in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,360,000 shares, a growth of 22.3% from the December 31st total of 1,930,000 shares. Currently, 0.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $252.65 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $241.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $245.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $195.49 and a 52 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total value of $24,806,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,718,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,372,030,892.46. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 425,430 shares of company stock valued at $104,201,556 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Copperleaf Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Copperleaf Capital LLC now owns 2,562 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $600,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Ecolab by 64.5% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,898 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $3,685,000. Principal Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 10,034 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,351,000 after purchasing an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $201,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $278.60.

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.