Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Buys New Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 46,728 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $10,949,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,481 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,050,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Voya Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 2,724 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $639,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 127.6% during the fourth quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC now owns 11,267 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,640,000 after buying an additional 6,317 shares during the period. Rothschild Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Rothschild Capital Partners LLC now owns 54,870 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $12,857,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 27.7% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,926 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $686,000 after buying an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their price target on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Five 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.47.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $996,486.96. The trade was a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $1.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $252.62. The company had a trading volume of 1,770,540 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,427,271. The business's 50-day moving average is $249.25 and its 200 day moving average is $247.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $71.65 billion, a PE ratio of 34.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $220.96 and a 12-month high of $273.69.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

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.