International Assets Investment Management LLC Purchases 48,621 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• International Assets Investment Management increased its Ecolab stake by 3,525.8% in the third quarter, purchasing 48,621 additional shares for a total holding of 50,000 shares valued at approximately $13.7 million.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Ecolab, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $328.58; several firms recently raised their targets.
• Ecolab reported quarterly earnings of $2.18 per share, matching estimates, while revenue rose 12.7% year over year to $4.69 billion. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.73 per share, representing a 1.0% annualized yield.

International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 3,525.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 50,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 48,621 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $13,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Wellington Altus USA Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 64.2% in the second quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $344.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $299.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $328.58.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $302.80 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.15 and a 1-year high of $309.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.88 billion, a PE ratio of 41.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.87. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $282.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $276.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.57.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $2.18. The firm had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 11.99%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 39.73%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.