Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Lowers Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 54.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,824 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 4,494 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $896,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted 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 valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $249.51 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $246.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $247.59. The company has a market cap of $70.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.81, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This 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 insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.47.

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.

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