Allstate Corp Acquires New Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Allstate Corp bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 7,638 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,790,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, 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.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Ecolab from $306.00 to $294.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $286.88.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $1.40 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $252.26. 611,208 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,123,501. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $217.05 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The company's 50-day moving average is $256.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.26. The company has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.23%.

About Ecolab

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.