Associated Banc Corp Makes New $242,000 Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Associated Banc Corp purchased a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,222 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $242,000.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2,805.1% during the fourth quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,635,000 after buying an additional 37,167 shares during the period. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,129,000 after buying an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% during the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,298,000 after buying an additional 47,863 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,338,000 after buying an additional 9,695 shares during the period. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 29.8% during the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 1,863 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $370,000 after buying an additional 428 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $234.87. 65,104 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,170,627. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $236.00. The company has a market cap of $67.07 billion, a PE ratio of 43.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $226.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $209.01.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Mizuho raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Barclays raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.88.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.