Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC Grows Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 112.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,634 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,734 shares during the quarter. Bryn Mawr Capital Management LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 28.1% in the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 9,603 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,250,000 after buying an additional 2,105 shares during the period. Cardinal Capital Management raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 41,799 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $9,821,000 after buying an additional 506 shares during the period. Davidson Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.1% in the 4th quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 3,047 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $714,000 after buying an additional 253 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 13,004 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $3,052,000 after buying an additional 830 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays boosted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley raised Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised Ecolab from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $284.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.04, for a total transaction of $1,510,572.84. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 3,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $996,486.96. This represents a 60.25 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $3.00 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $264.34. The stock had a trading volume of 441,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,216,838. The firm has a market cap of $74.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.87, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $217.05 and a fifty-two week high of $268.00. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $244.45 and a 200-day moving average of $247.34.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 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%. Equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio 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.