Sarasin & Partners LLP Increases Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 328,395 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,789 shares during the period. Ecolab comprises 0.8% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $76,950,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its stake in Ecolab by 62.0% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at $40,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its stake in Ecolab by 212.5% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of ECL opened at $237.63 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.49 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $241.96 and a 200 day moving average of $245.55. The firm has a market capitalization of $67.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.33, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.54 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders 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 of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab 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 transaction of $24,806,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 29,718,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,372,030,892.46. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.47.

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.