N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC Purchases Shares of 1,529 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 1,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Motco acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $246.75 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.69, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $253.54. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $242.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $233.65. 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 (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was 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 directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on ECL shares. Citigroup raised 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 research report on Wednesday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.67.

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.