Strong Tower Advisory Services Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Strong Tower Advisory Services raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,330 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 177 shares during the quarter. Ecolab comprises about 0.8% of Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,899,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,182,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,598,240,000 after buying an additional 305,039 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,264,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $449,215,000 after purchasing an additional 91,547 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,855,130 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $367,965,000 after purchasing an additional 155,151 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $365,420,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 117.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,669,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $282,185,000 after purchasing an additional 903,307 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.7 %

NYSE:ECL traded down $1.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $242.93. The stock had a trading volume of 50,858 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,171,767. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $232.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.32. The company has a market capitalization of $69.37 billion, a PE ratio of 45.30, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.12. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $245.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $239.56.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.