Royal Bank of Canada Raises Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 200,612 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned 1.25% of Ecolab worth $831,744,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corundum Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $246,000. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,069 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,656,000 after buying an additional 1,303 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,898 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $795,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Redburn Atlantic lowered 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. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.13.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock traded down $1.78 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $260.60. 361,869 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,162,069. The company's fifty day moving average is $246.51 and its 200-day moving average is $247.82. 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 Inc. has a 52 week low of $220.96 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The firm has a market cap of $73.92 billion, a PE ratio of 35.38, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

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.