Empower Advisory Group LLC Acquires 7,795 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 1.4%, owning approximately 0.21% of the company valued at about $148.3 million after acquiring an additional 7,795 shares.
• Ecolab's most recent quarterly earnings report showed earnings per share of $1.89, slightly missing analysts' expectations of $1.90, with a net margin of 13.59%.
• The company has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, representing an annualized dividend of $2.60 and a yield of approximately 1.0%.

Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 584,920 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,795 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned about 0.21% of Ecolab worth $148,289,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.8% during the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,449 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,980 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $755,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 5.0% during the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 902 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Baird R W raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $290.71.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock traded up $0.91 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $269.70. 632,626 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,159,142. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $274.17. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a fifty day moving average of $267.07 and a 200 day moving average of $257.29. The company has a market capitalization of $76.49 billion, a PE ratio of 36.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.06.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. The company had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 34.71%.

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.