Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC

Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.4% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,784 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in Ecolab by 134.8% in 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 stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Mizuho lowered their price target on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.13.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of ECL stock opened at $260.14 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $254.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $250.50. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.32 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. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 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, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

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.