EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 694 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 91 shares during the quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Abound Wealth Management increased its position in Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’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 approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last quarter. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $252.06 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $252.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $250.00. 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 company has a market cap of $71.33 billion, a PE ratio of 34.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

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.