Financial & Tax Architects LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 22,229 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $5,635,000.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 176.7% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of research firms recently issued reports on ECL. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup lifted their price target 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. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $288.33.
Read Our Latest Analysis on Ecolab
Ecolab Stock Performance
NYSE:ECL traded up $2.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $271.93. 972,465 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,322,482. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $220.96 and a 1-year high of $274.17. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $77.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a 50-day moving average of $266.29 and a 200 day moving average of $255.17.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.
Ecolab Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.33%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This 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. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.
About Ecolab
(
Free Report)
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.
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