Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Acquires 2,717 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 42.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,091 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,717 shares during the quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 1.3% during the second quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $807,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 7,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Group Ltd now owns 853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $247,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 0.9% in the second quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Mizuho set a $315.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $297.33.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $282.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $269.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $269.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a market cap of $79.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.52, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.99. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.07. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.57 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were paid a $0.73 dividend. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 16th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 41.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This trade represents a 23.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 750 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $257.60 per share, with a total value of $193,200.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 23,035 shares in the company, valued at $5,933,816. This trade represents a 3.37% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

About Ecolab

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.