Cantillon Capital Management LLC Buys 6,207 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,161,946 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,207 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up approximately 1.6% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $272,267,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in 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 in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $358,250,000 after purchasing an additional 8,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 904,631 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $230,979,000 after purchasing an additional 7,264 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $268.64 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $76.02 billion, a PE ratio of 36.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $270.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $247.25 and a 200-day moving average of $248.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Barclays lifted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.00.

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.