EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 694 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 91 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 3.1% in the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 3,904 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $997,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 15.8% during the 3rd quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 4,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,163,000 after buying an additional 622 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in Ecolab by 131.3% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 180,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $46,184,000 after acquiring an additional 102,687 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. W. Coons Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 4,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup upped their target price on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.4 %

Ecolab stock opened at $252.06 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The company has a market capitalization of $71.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $250.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

About Ecolab

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.