Strong Tower Advisory Services Boosts Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 17.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,527 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 1,827 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services' holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 164.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $80,564,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 285.4% in the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 20,756 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,856,000 after acquiring an additional 15,371 shares during the period. Caprock Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,951 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,868,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares during the period. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $564,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock traded up $0.37 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $267.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 244,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,167,521. The company's 50 day moving average is $249.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.04. The stock has a market cap of $75.85 billion, a PE ratio of 36.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business's revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. 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 research note on Monday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Five investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $283.13.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

About Ecolab

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.