Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc lowered its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 8.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,005,301 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 92,203 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned 0.35% of Ecolab worth $199,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Live Oak Investment Partners acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Robbins Farley acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ECL. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $260.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $226.76.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ECL traded down $0.98 on Tuesday, reaching $225.81. 1,168,271 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,210,650. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day moving average of $220.16 and a 200-day moving average of $196.68. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.96% and a return on equity of 19.36%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 19th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 47.60%.

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.