BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Has $11.73 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 60.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 49,292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 18,556 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $11,731,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $254.82 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $255.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $244.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $236.45. The firm has a market cap of $72.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. 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 (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $262.21.

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.