Sei Investments Co. Has $132.21 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sei Investments Co. raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 17.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 555,481 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 80,878 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.19% of Ecolab worth $132,206,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after buying an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,149,000 after acquiring an additional 43,553 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $390,687,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main grew its stake in Ecolab by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,128,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $223,933,000 after purchasing an additional 62,434 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on ECL. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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, Wells Fargo & Company raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Six investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $262.21.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $251.44 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $244.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $235.85. The company has a market cap of $71.80 billion, a PE ratio of 46.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. 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 firm posted $1.24 EPS. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, 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 available at the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by 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.