Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Creative Planning

Creative Planning lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECLFree Report) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,454 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,752,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,552,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc boosted its position in Ecolab by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Abbrea Capital LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 7,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $183.73 per share, for a total transaction of $119,424.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 15,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,768,994.83. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $169.54 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $178.73 and its 200-day moving average is $175.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.32 billion, a PE ratio of 41.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $131.04 and a 12-month high of $191.41.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECLGet Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.86 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.33% and a net margin of 7.96%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.10 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 5.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 18th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 51.58%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $213.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, September 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Ecolab from $172.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ecolab from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Ecolab from $163.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ecolab from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $192.60.

View Our Latest Report on ECL

Ecolab Company Profile

(Free Report)

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segments. 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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL)

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