Everpar Advisors LLC Invests $773,000 in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Everpar Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,895 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $773,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 2,805.1% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,635,000 after purchasing an additional 37,167 shares during the period. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Ecolab by 526.2% during the 4th quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,298,000 after purchasing an additional 47,863 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,040,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.8 %

Ecolab stock traded up $4.06 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $233.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,218,092 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,210,443. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.54 billion, a P/E 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $225.01 and its 200-day moving average is $204.50. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $233.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast 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 given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ECL. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.88.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.