Ecolab Inc. $ECL Position Lifted by ProShare Advisors LLC

ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 659,235 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 22,263 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $181,013,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Wellington Altus USA Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 64.2% in the 2nd quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on ECL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $315.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $287.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on Ecolab from $344.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $328.58.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $302.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $282.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $276.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.15 and a 52-week high of $309.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.87.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.18. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 11.99%. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.73%.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.