Rathbones Group PLC Decreases Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Rathbones Group PLC decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 285,903 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 21,882 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $66,993,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $521,399,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Ecolab by 206.7% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $179,749,000 after buying an additional 516,970 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $80,564,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $936,300,000 after acquiring an additional 304,478 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 50.2% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 886,653 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $207,758,000 after acquiring an additional 296,344 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 5.0 %

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $237.65 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The business’s 50 day moving average is $256.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.16. The firm has a market cap of $67.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.20, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $289.33.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.