Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.65

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, February 20th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of 0.65 per share by the basic materials company on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th.

Ecolab has increased its dividend by an average of 6.6% annually over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 33 consecutive years. Ecolab has a payout ratio of 30.5% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect Ecolab to earn $8.52 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.60 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 30.5%.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $250.87 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $249.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $71.00 billion, a PE ratio of 33.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This trade represents a 40.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

An institutional investor recently raised its position in Ecolab stock. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 164.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $867,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.