QRG Capital Management Inc. Has $2.14 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

QRG Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 26.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,286 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,960 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,144,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.1% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,424,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $557,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in Ecolab by 19.1% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $704,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.06.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.4 %

Shares of ECL stock traded up $3.34 on Tuesday, hitting $245.19. 726,317 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,157,515. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.79, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $246.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $237.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $222.91.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Ecolab 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.