Quarry LP Invests $132,000 in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $132,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired 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 1st quarter worth $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, 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 transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab 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 transaction 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 $2,014,586.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ECL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. 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. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday. 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $267.29.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of ECL opened at $253.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.92, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $256.59. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average price is $245.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $237.51.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Ecolab’s 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.