Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by AMG National Trust Bank

AMG National Trust Bank raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 33,110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the quarter. AMG National Trust Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Motco acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL traded up $1.00 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $247.23. The stock had a trading volume of 538,404 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,143,449. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week 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’s 50 day moving average price is $240.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $231.36. The company has a market capitalization of $70.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.78, a P/E/G 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. 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 in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $250.00.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.