Ieq Capital LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Ieq Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.0% in the second quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 8,164 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,943,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Somerset Group LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Somerset Group LLC now owns 3,491 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $831,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 861,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $205,309,000 after purchasing an additional 3,999 shares during the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $511,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.4% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 30,409 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,220,000 after buying an additional 1,825 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, 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 note 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.21.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

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

Ecolab Trading Up 0.1 %

ECL opened at $251.44 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $244.33 and its 200-day moving average is $235.94. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $253.57. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $71.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 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 analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.