Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Western Wealth Management LLC

Western Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 27.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,749 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $416,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Motco acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2,042.9% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective 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 reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup raised shares of 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, Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $250.00.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:ECL traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $241.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 131,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,150,630. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $240.44 and a 200-day moving average of $229.96. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $249.00.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.