Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Short Interest Down 5.4% in October

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) saw a significant drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,760,000 shares, a drop of 5.4% from the October 15th total of 1,860,000 shares. Approximately 0.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 898,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.0 days.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $244.27 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $244.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab has a 12 month low of $182.39 and a 12 month high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 32.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares in the company, valued at $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 578,355 shares of company stock worth $142,728,965. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.6% in the first quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,663 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $615,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth $264,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 32.9% during the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 18,862 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,355,000 after purchasing an additional 4,674 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 360.6% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 20,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,640,000 after purchasing an additional 15,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lake Street Advisors Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 31.6% in the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $414,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.87.

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.