Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock Position Lowered by Federated Hermes Inc.

Federated Hermes Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 53.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 68,490 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 78,954 shares during the quarter. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $16,049,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $285.67.

Remove Ads

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total value of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,106,911.80. This trade represents a 17.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock worth $4,637,985 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded up $0.50 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $239.12. 439,409 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,144,567. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $217.05 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The stock has a market cap of $67.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a PEG ratio of 2.57 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $254.29 and a 200 day moving average of $249.00.

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, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.09%. 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.