Whittier Trust Co. Raises Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Whittier Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 71,174 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,757 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $16,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Abound Wealth Management raised its stake in Ecolab by 212.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE ECL opened at $254.25 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $71.95 billion, a PE ratio of 34.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $253.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $250.03. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.