Swedbank AB Has $387.10 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Swedbank AB trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,626,450 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 65,567 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB owned approximately 0.57% of Ecolab worth $387,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Archford Capital Strategies LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 5,136 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,222,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Corundum Group Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 47.2% in the 2nd quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,677 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,827,000 after buying an additional 2,460 shares during the last quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Ecolab by 3.8% in the 2nd quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 1,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $444,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period. Hengehold Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, Country Club Bank lifted its position in Ecolab by 3.1% during the second quarter. Country Club Bank now owns 2,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $506,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.72 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $240.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 811,109 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,157,082. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $249.00. The company has a market capitalization of $68.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.49, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $240.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $229.25.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ECL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.00.

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.