Cardinal Capital Management Buys 506 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Cardinal Capital Management increased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,799 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 506 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up about 1.5% of Cardinal Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Cardinal Capital Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,821,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ECL. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 62.0% during the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL opened at $264.99 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.04 billion, a PE ratio of 37.17, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $242.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $246.69. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $213.94 and a 12-month high of $268.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. On average, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.64 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 17th. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.47%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Ecolab 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.