Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 7,701 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,833,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $254.59 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.15, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $256.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $245.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $237.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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 dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ECL. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Six equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $265.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,014,586.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.