Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Phoenix Financial Ltd.

Key Points

• Phoenix Financial Ltd. has increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 11.4%, acquiring an additional 973 shares for a total of 9,477 shares valued at approximately $2.41 million.
• Ecolab recently reported quarterly earnings of $1.50 per share, matching analysts' estimates, but saw a 1.5% decline in year-over-year revenue to $3.70 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65, resulting in an annual yield of 0.96%, with a payout ratio of 35.33%.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 11.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,477 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 973 shares during the period. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,414,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in Ecolab by 2.8% during the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,449 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of 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 grew its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $703,000 after buying an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 20.2% during the first quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 298 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird raised Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 9th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $290.13.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded up $5.04 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $264.43. The stock had a trading volume of 645,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,327,255. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.00 billion, a PE ratio of 35.93, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $274.17. The stock's 50 day moving average is $266.68 and its 200 day moving average is $256.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

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 net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

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.