Peddock Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Peddock Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,075 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $610,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. First Personal Financial Services bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1 %

ECL stock traded up $0.18 on Wednesday, reaching $233.10. 960,106 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,207,357. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $225.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $204.50. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $234.68. The company has a market cap of $66.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. Ecolab’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on ECL. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.88.

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.