995 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Acquired by Telos Capital Management Inc.

Telos Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,062 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $734,000 after buying an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 27.7% during the 1st quarter. Stonebrook Private Inc. now owns 1,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 387 shares during the last quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 21.0% during the 1st quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 90,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $23,088,000 after buying an additional 8,180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Banque Pictet & Cie SA lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Banque Pictet & Cie SA now owns 29,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $7,541,000 after buying an additional 4,558 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $266.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $75.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.25, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.32. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $220.96 and a one year high of $274.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $263.32 and a two-hundred day moving average of $252.92.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. 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 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 19,465 shares in the company, 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 through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $287.00.

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.