BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Buys 6,155 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 14.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,042 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 6,155 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Ecolab were worth $11,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.13.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of Ecolab stock traded up $4.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $265.40. 589,520 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,169,215. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $247.15 and a 200-day moving average of $248.22. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $220.96 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $75.28 billion, a PE ratio of 35.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Ecolab's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

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.