Simmons Bank Has $608,000 Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Simmons Bank boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 26.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 644 shares during the quarter. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $608,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. OFI Invest Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $233.48. 1,131,126 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,208,968. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $234.68. The stock has a market cap of $66.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $225.01 and its 200-day moving average is $204.50.

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. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $238.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.88.

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.