Norden Group LLC Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 925 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $214,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Modera Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.3% in the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $357,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 4,600 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $782,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in Ecolab by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 6,151 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,220,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $207,000. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in Ecolab by 15.5% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 1,910 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $374,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $246.12 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $246.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $237.16 and a 200-day moving average of $222.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped 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. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.06.

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.