Short Interest in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Grows By 33.0%

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,580,000 shares, a growth of 33.0% from the March 15th total of 1,940,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,440,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,658,768,000 after buying an additional 105,289 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,231,873,000 after acquiring an additional 91,475 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Ecolab by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $936,300,000 after purchasing an additional 304,478 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in Ecolab by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $831,744,000 after purchasing an additional 200,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.1 %

ECL stock traded up $2.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $238.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,409,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,147,721. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab has a one year low of $217.27 and a one year high of $273.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $253.24 and a 200-day moving average of $248.58. The stock has a market cap of $67.65 billion, a PE ratio of 32.32, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Research analysts predict that Ecolab will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 35.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ECL. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $240.00 target price (down previously from $265.00) on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $282.33.

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.