Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 28.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,033 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 13,683 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $14,301,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Abound Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% in the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group raised their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $265.54 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.15 billion, a PE ratio of 35.98, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value 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. The trade was a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company 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.