Generali Asset Management SPA SGR Purchases Shares of 37,556 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 37,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,800,000.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Invesco LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $201,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $252.06 on Tuesday. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $252.89 and its 200-day moving average is $250.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.15, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Company 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.