Capital Advisors Inc. OK Raises Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Capital Advisors Inc. OK increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 4.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 148,590 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,880 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Inc. OK owned approximately 0.05% of Ecolab worth $37,671,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 176.7% in the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $286.47.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.0%

ECL traded down $2.78 on Tuesday, reaching $269.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,335,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,179,502. The company has a market capitalization of $76.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $274.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $262.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $252.50.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. Ecolab's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

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.