Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Bought by Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC

Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,759 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $657,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $247.23. The stock had a trading volume of 538,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,143,449. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $231.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.78, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $249.00.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.00.

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.