J. W. Coons Advisors LLC Increases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

J. W. Coons Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,299 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,007,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $264.47 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $268.00. The company has a market capitalization of $74.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.84, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $244.73 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ECL shares. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $270.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 10th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $284.33.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Company 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.