Creative Planning Buys 2,817 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,817 shares during the period. Creative Planning’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,161,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird increased 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.29.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $253.37 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $245.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $237.51. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $256.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.35 billion, a PE ratio of 46.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 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 (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 0.90%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the 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 transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, 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 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.