Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Has $13.85 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,193 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 597 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $13,850,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after buying an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $365,420,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $326,626,000 after buying an additional 24,648 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.1 %

ECL opened at $250.46 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $253.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $243.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $235.47. The company has a market cap of $71.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $257.73.

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.