Sargent Investment Group LLC Invests $458,000 in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sargent Investment Group LLC bought a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth $27,000. Motco purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.73.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $253.25 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $253.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $72.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.90, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $243.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $235.29.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.