Caledonia Investments PLC Reduces Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Caledonia Investments PLC decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 14.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 123,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 20,400 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up 3.5% of Caledonia Investments PLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Caledonia Investments PLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $28,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Choreo LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 324.7% in the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 5,699 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,344,000 after buying an additional 4,357 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.9% in the second quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 99,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,795,000 after acquiring an additional 1,904 shares during the period. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% in the second quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,811 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $907,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 41.8% during the 2nd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,350 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 398 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $278.27.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 70,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $245.95, for a total transaction of $17,216,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 29,178,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,176,511,348.95. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $234.65 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $243.29 and a 200 day moving average of $245.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $66.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $194.34 and a 52 week high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 36.47%.

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.