Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Increases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 16.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,725 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,930 shares during the period. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Advisors LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 84.3% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,098,000 after acquiring an additional 6,137 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 50.9% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,171,000 after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 19.1% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,895,000 after purchasing an additional 3,393 shares in the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter valued at about $1,194,000. Finally, Chemung Canal Trust Co. increased its position in Ecolab by 46.8% in the first quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 30,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,953,000 after buying an additional 9,601 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock traded up $0.65 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $258.90. 78,785 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,087,743. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $261.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $248.88 and a two-hundred day moving average of $239.24. The company has a market cap of $73.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.82, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. UBS Group cut their price target on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. 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. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $269.07.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction 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 approximately $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab 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.