Bridges Investment Management Inc. Has $862,000 Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Bridges Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 74.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,622 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,547 shares during the quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $862,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock opened at $251.44 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $244.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.85. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $253.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.80 billion, a PE ratio of 46.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price target on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Six research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $262.21.

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.