Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 38,668 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,061,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,658,768,000 after acquiring an additional 105,289 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,317,811,000 after purchasing an additional 68,043 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $981,007,000 after purchasing an additional 35,027 shares during the period. Amundi grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,499,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $586,309,000 after buying an additional 83,328 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.88.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was 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 directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last three months. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $252.27 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $255.53 and a 200 day moving average of $250.16. The company has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69. 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 earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 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.