Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $5.34 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co lowered its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,455 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 993 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,344,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 3,291 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $653,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 46.1% during the fourth quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 1,182 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $995,000 after buying an additional 1,483 shares during the period. Central Valley Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $285,000. Finally, Moreno Evelyn V raised its holdings in Ecolab by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Moreno Evelyn V now owns 1,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $248.61 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $244.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $235.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.04, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $253.57.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ECL. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company 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.