Waterloo Capital L.P. Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Waterloo Capital L.P. bought a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,146 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $511,000.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.73.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $248.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $244.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $235.56. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $253.57. The company has a market capitalization of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

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

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.