Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Hemenway Trust Co LLC

Hemenway Trust Co LLC grew its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,860 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,109,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after acquiring an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,264,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $449,215,000 after purchasing an additional 91,547 shares during the period. Mirova US LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $365,420,000. Finally, Swedbank AB acquired a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $390,687,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.67.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded down $1.31 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $245.39. 66,968 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,124,280. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $253.54. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $242.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $233.65.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.