CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Has $88.37 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 20.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 377,187 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 64,594 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned about 0.13% of Ecolab worth $88,366,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2 %

ECL traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $236.25. 338,407 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,145,478. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $218.19 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $252.05 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $248.35. 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 company has a market cap of $67.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.01, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 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%. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.10%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ECL shares. Barclays cut their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $282.33.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

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.