Summit Global Investments Makes New $2.63 Million Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Summit Global Investments bought a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 11,239 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,633,000.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 797.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,550,000 after buying an additional 15,834 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after buying an additional 129,635 shares during the period. Corundum Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 47.9% in the fourth quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $246,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $250.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $71.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $254.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.03. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its 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 net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.