Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Director Buys $147,790.50 in Stock

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $233.58 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $66.70 billion, a PE ratio of 43.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $234.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $225.18 and a 200 day moving average of $204.71.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ECL. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 2,805.1% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,635,000 after acquiring an additional 37,167 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,129,000 after buying an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Ecolab by 526.2% during the 4th quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,298,000 after buying an additional 47,863 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after buying an additional 9,695 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth $35,040,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Barclays upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the company from $185.00 to $216.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $236.88.

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.