Sanctuary Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 28,865 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 28,865 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,382,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $749,000. Cetera Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 84.3% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,098,000 after buying an additional 6,137 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 1,128,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $223,933,000 after buying an additional 62,434 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 50.9% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Finally, Gillson Capital LP purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,374,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of ECL opened at $251.02 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.68 billion, a PE ratio of 46.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. The company’s fifty day moving average is $246.24 and its 200 day moving average is $237.87. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $256.59.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Six investment 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, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.29.

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.