Hsbc Holdings PLC Raises Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 939,503 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 70,395 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $220,083,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $277.00 price target on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $240.00 price objective (down from $265.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $282.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last ninety days. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $231.67 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $252.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $248.43. 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 Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.27 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $65.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts expect 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 was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 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.