Ecolab Inc. $ECL Stock: CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Grows Holdings

Key Points

• Cushing Asset Management doubled its Ecolab position in the third quarter, increasing holdings by 10,000 shares to 20,000 shares valued at approximately $5.49 million. Institutional investors collectively own 74.91% of Ecolab.
• Analysts maintain a positive outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.50. Ecolab’s shares recently opened at $288.75.
• Ecolab exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting $2.09 in EPS and $4.42 billion in revenue, while revenue increased 9.7% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.73 per share, yielding about 1.0% annually.

CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the quarter. CUSHING ASSET MANAGEMENT LP dba NXG INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT's holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 3,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $999,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Vancity Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% during the second quarter. Vancity Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,859 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.8% during the first quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $297,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% during the third quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,218 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $334,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Altus USA Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 64.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ecolab from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Monday. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $287.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $337.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $324.50.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $288.75 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The company has a market capitalization of $80.95 billion, a PE ratio of 36.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.87. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.15 and a 12 month high of $309.27. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $280.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $275.53.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.38 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 12.57%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.89 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at $20,431,170.48. The trade was a 19.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.

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