Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 255,315 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,961 shares during the period. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.09% of Ecolab worth $59,825,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ECL. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 15,834 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% during 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 during 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 period. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $246,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $286.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was 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 directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $249.29 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $256.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $250.18. The firm has a market cap of $70.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. 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.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

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.