Cantillon Capital Management LLC Purchases 6,207 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,161,946 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,207 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for 1.6% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned 0.41% of Ecolab worth $272,267,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Abound Wealth Management boosted its position in Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $268.64 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $76.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.40, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. 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 12-month low of $217.05 and a 12-month high of $270.57. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $247.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $248.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. On average, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business 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 yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.