Sivia Capital Partners LLC Invests $251,000 in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 990 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its position in Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $267.29 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $249.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $249.43. The company has a market cap of $75.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $220.96 and a 12-month high of $273.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Seaport Res Ptn raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.13.

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.