Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC Purchases 41 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Concord Wealth Partners lifted its stake in Ecolab by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ECL. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $307.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $290.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $287.00.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.7 %

ECL stock opened at $265.64 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $217.05 and a 1-year high of $268.16. 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 capitalization of $75.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.99, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $248.16.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, EVP Machiel Duijser sold 5,721 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $996,486.96. This trade represents a 60.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. This trade represents a 2.18 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.