Capital Investment Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 816 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. &PARTNERS purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $228,000. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth about $226,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at about $326,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 4,840.0% in the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 247 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $57,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Citigroup raised 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.80.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $259.15 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $250.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $240.15. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $262.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $74.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.99, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13.

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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.