Wealthfront Advisers LLC Boosts Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,007 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Ecolab by 202.6% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 70.6% during the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth $41,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $291.69.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of ECL opened at $280.02 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04. The company has a market capitalization of $79.42 billion, a PE ratio of 37.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $274.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $265.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.