Headlands Technologies LLC Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,256 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,169,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of ECL. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 797.3% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,550,000 after purchasing an additional 15,834 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in 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. Corundum Group Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 47.9% during the fourth quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $246,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $254.50 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $256.63 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $250.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $72.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.49, a P/E/G 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 (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ECL. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $286.88.

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.