Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Purchases 267 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,683 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $865,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $39,000. Abound Wealth Management grew its position 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 buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last quarter. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $269.68 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $217.05 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $250.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $249.66. The company has a market cap of $76.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth 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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.23%.

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.