SRN Advisors LLC Takes $935,000 Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

SRN Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 3,991 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $935,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Ecolab by 74.6% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 18,876 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,820,000 after purchasing an additional 8,068 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,762 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 82,021 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $20,989,000 after acquiring an additional 1,730 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter worth approximately $282,000. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.2% in the third quarter. Integrated Advisors Network LLC now owns 3,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $266.60 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $246.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $248.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $75.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $268.15.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Barclays upped their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $287.00.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Ecolab

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.