Ballentine Partners LLC Grows Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,103 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 418 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $977,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% in the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 6,705 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,600,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the period. Certuity LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 511.1% in the 2nd quarter. Certuity LLC now owns 7,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,755,000 after acquiring an additional 6,169 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 90.2% in the 2nd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 71,708 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,066,000 after acquiring an additional 34,011 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 169,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $40,262,000 after acquiring an additional 18,445 shares during the period. Finally, Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Valtinson Bruner Financial Planning LLC now owns 7,309 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,740,000 after acquiring an additional 395 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, August 21st. 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. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.67.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $249.19 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $242.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $234.31. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $253.54. 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 stock has a market cap of $71.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.15, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business 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 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company 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.