Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Position Lowered by Old Port Advisors

Old Port Advisors decreased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.9% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 45 shares during the quarter. Old Port Advisors’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.9% during the second quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,587 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,092,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Archford Capital Strategies LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.2% during the second quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC now owns 5,136 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,222,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Corundum Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 47.2% in the second quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,677 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,827,000 after acquiring an additional 2,460 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Phoenix Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 3.8% in the second quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 1,866 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.3 %

Ecolab stock traded up $0.72 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $240.66. The stock had a trading volume of 816,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,157,082. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $240.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $229.54. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $249.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The firm has a market cap of $68.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.57, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

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.