EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC Acquires 261 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 89.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 553 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $128,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 11,750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,331,000 after acquiring an additional 731 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 87,521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $17,360,000 after purchasing an additional 6,633 shares during the period. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 3,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 113,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $22,510,000 after buying an additional 1,080 shares during the period. Finally, TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 40,533.3% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s 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 acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Six 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 data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $265.43.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $255.76 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $245.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $236.58. The firm has a market cap of $72.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.36, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $256.59.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid 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 0.89%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Ecolab 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.