Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 394,192 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 16,882 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 0.14% of Ecolab worth $91,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Motco bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 2,042.9% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock traded up $3.34 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $245.19. 726,317 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,157,525. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $246.51. The firm has a market cap of $70.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $237.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $222.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.06.

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.