1,294 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Acquired by DRW Securities LLC

DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,294 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $310,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.21.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was 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 approximately $2,014,586.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.4 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $254.92 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $72.80 billion, a PE ratio of 47.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $255.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $244.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $236.24.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 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.