Park Square Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Park Square Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 1,225 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $287,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 9.5% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 796,170 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $203,285,000 after purchasing an additional 69,142 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $238,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.0% in the fourth quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,696 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 5,895 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,381,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.13.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.5%

ECL stock traded up $1.41 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $264.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,035,813 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,169,699. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $247.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $248.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.79, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. 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 Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $273.69.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.