Ecolab Inc. $ECL Stock Position Increased by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3,525.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 50,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 48,621 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $13,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 3,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $999,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Vancity Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter. Vancity Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $797,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co grew its holdings in Ecolab by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $297,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. increased its stake in Ecolab by 3.6% in the third quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Altus USA Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 64.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ECL. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $299.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on Ecolab from $287.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ecolab from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $328.58.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:ECL opened at $302.80 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a current ratio of 1.11 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The stock has a market cap of $84.88 billion, a PE ratio of 41.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.87. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.15 and a fifty-two week high of $309.27. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $282.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $276.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.18. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 11.99%. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.73%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total value of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at $20,431,170.48. This represents a 19.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.