Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC Increases Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 43.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,423 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 430 shares during the period. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $338,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,420,000. Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $390,687,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,182,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,598,240,000 after buying an additional 305,039 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 136.0% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 359,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $85,467,000 after buying an additional 206,973 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in Ecolab by 65.9% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 474,603 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $109,583,000 after acquiring an additional 188,455 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 accessible through this link. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly 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 accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $250.46 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $243.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $235.47. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $253.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.52 billion, a PE ratio of 46.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on ECL. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.73.

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.