Summit Global Investments Purchases New Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Summit Global Investments acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 11,239 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,633,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Abound Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 212.5% during the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $288.00.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5 %

ECL stock opened at $250.79 on Friday. 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 company’s 50 day simple moving average is $254.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $250.03. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.13 billion, a PE ratio of 33.98, 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, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.