Impax Asset Management Group plc Trims Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Impax Asset Management Group plc reduced its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 653,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,646 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $153,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 4,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. World Equity Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Inc. raised its position 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 last quarter. Finally, Wealthspire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 8.5% during the 4th quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 6,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $264.47 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $244.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.78. The company has a market capitalization of $74.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.84, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $268.00. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $284.33.

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.