Vest Financial LLC Increases Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.2% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 198,962 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 11,540 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up 1.1% of Vest Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $47,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.6% in the second quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 42.1% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $990,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. TIAA Trust National Association increased its position in Ecolab by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 6,122 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,457,000 after buying an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisor OS LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 1.2% during the second quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $957,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group reduced their price target on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.67.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $249.42 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.23 billion, a PE ratio of 46.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $243.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $234.61. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $253.54.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.