Mackenzie Financial Corp Has $16.79 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 70,555 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,602 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $16,792,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $749,000. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 84.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,098,000 after purchasing an additional 6,137 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in Ecolab by 527.9% during the fourth quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 87,915 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,438,000 after purchasing an additional 73,913 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,128,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $223,933,000 after purchasing an additional 62,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 50.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5 %

NYSE ECL opened at $254.59 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $256.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $245.50 and a 200-day moving average of $237.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.43.

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.