Centaurus Financial Inc. Makes New $113,000 Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Centaurus Financial Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 571 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $113,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,877,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,875,434,000 after purchasing an additional 387,545 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,774,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,078,000 after acquiring an additional 123,572 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,264,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $449,215,000 after acquiring an additional 91,547 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,855,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $367,965,000 after acquiring an additional 155,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,420,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3 %

ECL stock opened at $243.29 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $230.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $217.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $245.26. The stock has a market cap of $69.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.12.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on ECL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on Ecolab from $269.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Barclays upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.56.

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.