Sagefield Capital LP Buys Shares of 8,826 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sagefield Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 8,826 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,068,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 796,170 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $203,285,000 after buying an additional 69,142 shares in the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 43.0% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 1,413 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% during the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 9,345 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,190,000 after purchasing an additional 1,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 42.1% in the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,684 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,738,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $258.96 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $220.96 and a one year high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $73.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $246.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $247.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for 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 for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus raised Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price target for the company from $263.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Five research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $282.47.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 4,140 shares in the company, valued at $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Company 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.

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