Short Interest in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Declines By 10.4%

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) was the target of a large decline in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,630,000 shares, a decline of 10.4% from the August 31st total of 1,820,000 shares. Currently, 0.6% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 998,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 11,750 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,331,000 after purchasing an additional 731 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 87,521 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,360,000 after purchasing an additional 6,633 shares during the last quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. J. W. Coons Advisors LLC now owns 3,914 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $776,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 40,533.3% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,219 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $242,000 after buying an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Scotia Capital Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Scotia Capital Inc. now owns 41,094 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,151,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, 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 research note on Thursday, August 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $267.29.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded down $2.91 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $252.42. 378,628 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,110,742. Ecolab has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $256.59. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $245.68 and a 200 day moving average of $237.32. The stock has a market cap of $72.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.28, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

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.