FWG Holdings LLC Has $493,000 Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

FWG Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,975 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. FWG Holdings LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $493,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 5.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 301,591 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $77,005,000 after acquiring an additional 16,747 shares during the period. Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth approximately $215,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $65,000. CWA Asset Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter worth approximately $437,000. Finally, SpiderRock Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC now owns 13,690 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,496,000 after acquiring an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $269.68 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $76.32 billion, a PE ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $217.05 and a 52-week high of $273.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $250.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $249.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 35.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group upped their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Three research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $288.00.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of Ecolab 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company 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.