Intact Investment Management Inc. Invests $1.43 Million in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Intact Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 7,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,428,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the last quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% in the 4th quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after purchasing an additional 47,863 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,338,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares during the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $35,040,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 39.6% during the fourth quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 167,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,128,000 after acquiring an additional 47,351 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ECL. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $200.00 to $220.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Wolfe Research began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Raymond James lifted their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.47.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded up $1.31 during trading on Friday, hitting $221.10. 1,242,930 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,060,937. The business’s 50 day moving average is $223.89 and its 200-day moving average is $201.16. The company has a market capitalization of $63.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.27 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 47.60%.

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.