Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC Has $10.60 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 45,236 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 261 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up 1.2% of Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $10,600,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management lifted its position in Ecolab by 212.5% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last three months. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ECL. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of 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 research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $269.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $250.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $249.61. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $76.32 billion, a PE ratio of 36.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released 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 net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 35.23%.

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.