Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Director Acquires $125,875.00 in Stock

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

David Maclennan also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, February 13th, David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of Ecolab stock. The stock was acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $252.78 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $247.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $247.55. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $220.96 and a 52-week high of $273.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Redburn Atlantic cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $282.47.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $521,399,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 27,182.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $459,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in Ecolab by 27,677.8% during the first quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $253,520,000 after buying an additional 996,400 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% during the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,394,000 after buying an additional 708,432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $319,641,000 after buying an additional 558,947 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Company 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.