ING Groep NV Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

ING Groep NV increased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 133.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 177,542 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 101,483 shares during the quarter. ING Groep NV owned 0.06% of Ecolab worth $35,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Riverwater Partners LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $328,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $557,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the period. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $916,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 6,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price target on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $236.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock traded up $1.03 during trading on Friday, reaching $233.66. 785,102 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,139,372. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $66.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $234.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $226.36 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.27.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

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.