Cibc World Markets Corp Has $32.04 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 295.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,731 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 102,162 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $32,039,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 797.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,550,000 after purchasing an additional 15,834 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 37,867 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,669,000 after purchasing an additional 2,772 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the business’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 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. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. StockNews.com lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $250.87 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $252.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.98. The company has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.