LVW Advisors LLC Acquires 610 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

LVW Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 27.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,815 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the quarter. LVW Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $660,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth about $40,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during 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, Asset Dedication LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 2,188.9% in the 3rd quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $237.63 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $241.96 and its 200-day moving average is $245.62. The firm has a market cap of $67.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $195.49 and a 1-year high of $262.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 36.47%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. StockNews.com downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $277.47.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. This represents a 0.21 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock worth $205,225,417. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.