Midwest Capital Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 119 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. World Equity Group Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,630 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $382,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Wealthspire Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Redmond Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 69.8% in the 4th quarter. Redmond Asset Management LLC now owns 22,412 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,252,000 after purchasing an additional 9,214 shares during the period. Finally, Transcend Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 79.4% in the 4th quarter. Transcend Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $342,000 after purchasing an additional 646 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group increased their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays increased their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.33.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $264.47 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $244.73 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.78. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $268.00. The stock has a market cap of $74.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.84, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. 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, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were 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 in the company, 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. 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.