Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. Boosts Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 87.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 689 shares during the period. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $505,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $250,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. grew its position in 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 last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % 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 in the last three months. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets boosted 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. Finally, Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.88.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $252.95 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.27, a PEG 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $255.81 and a 200 day moving average of $250.18.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

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.