Dillon & Associates Inc. Has $11.39 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Dillon & Associates Inc. grew its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,655 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,473 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for approximately 1.6% of Dillon & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Dillon & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $11,385,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,262,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 797.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 17,820 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,550,000 after acquiring an additional 15,834 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $381,552,000 after acquiring an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 47.9% in the 4th quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,769,000 after acquiring an additional 2,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $246,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total value of $1,510,572.84. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 3,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $288.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $250.79 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $254.48 and its 200 day moving average is $250.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $71.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $217.05 and a one year high of $273.69.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.23%.

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.