Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by CX Institutional

CX Institutional lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the quarter. CX Institutional’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in Ecolab by 134.8% during the fourth quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 19,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $263.81 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $252.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.13. The firm has a market cap of $74.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.75, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.13.

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.