Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Buys 147,456 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1,904.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 155,199 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 147,456 shares during the quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $30,784,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares in the last quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% in the 4th quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after acquiring an additional 47,863 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,338,000 after acquiring an additional 9,695 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,040,000. Finally, Vest Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 39.6% in the 4th quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 167,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,128,000 after buying an additional 47,351 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL traded up $0.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $227.49. The company had a trading volume of 1,068,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,213,130. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $231.86. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $224.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $202.54. The company has a market capitalization of $65.04 billion, a PE ratio of 42.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $233.65.

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.