2,770 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Purchased by Retirement Guys Formula LLC

Retirement Guys Formula LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 2,770 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $640,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $365,420,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 117.9% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,669,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,185,000 after acquiring an additional 903,307 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 19,062.1% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 555,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $110,261,000 after acquiring an additional 552,992 shares during the period. Findlay Park Partners LLP bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $91,178,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 1.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,877,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,875,434,000 after acquiring an additional 387,545 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $235.85. The company had a trading volume of 678,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,156,694. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $245.93. The company has a market capitalization of $67.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $234.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $220.25.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ECL. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $269.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Mizuho raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $239.56.

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.