Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stake Increased by Leeward Financial Partners LLC

Leeward Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 14.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 15,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,944 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for about 1.5% of Leeward Financial Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Leeward Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,625,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,182,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,598,240,000 after purchasing an additional 305,039 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,264,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $449,215,000 after acquiring an additional 91,547 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,855,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $367,965,000 after acquiring an additional 155,151 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $365,420,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 117.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,669,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,185,000 after purchasing an additional 903,307 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on ECL. Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $269.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $239.56.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1 %

NYSE:ECL traded up $0.20 on Wednesday, hitting $235.85. 678,082 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,168,140. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $245.93. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $234.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.14. The company has a market cap of $67.35 billion, a PE ratio of 43.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

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.