Certior Financial Group LLC Purchases Shares of 1,959 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Certior Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $459,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 7.0% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 80.8% during the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 19,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,902,000 after buying an additional 8,580 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.8% during the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,347,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the last quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 12.2% in the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,046,000 after buying an additional 873 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 48.5% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 180,766 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,155,000 after acquiring an additional 59,028 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.33.

Ecolab Stock Down 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $237.65 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $256.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.16. The company has a market cap of $67.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

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.