Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Director David Maclennan Acquires 650 Shares

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $233.34 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $66.63 billion, a PE ratio of 43.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $225.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $204.50. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $234.68.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2,805.1% during the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,635,000 after acquiring an additional 37,167 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,129,000 after purchasing an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% during the fourth quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,298,000 after purchasing an additional 47,863 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares during the period. Finally, AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $35,040,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays raised Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.88.

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.