Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Short Interest Update

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

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 32.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 578,355 shares of company stock valued at $142,728,965. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $279.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $279.87.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ECL opened at $244.27 on Wednesday. Ecolab has a twelve month low of $182.39 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.26, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $252.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $244.20.

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

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.