Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. Buys 456 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 456 shares during the quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,099,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the 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 sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were 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 directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was 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 $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.1 %

ECL stock opened at $253.59 on Friday. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $251.81 and a 200 day moving average of $240.60. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The firm has a market cap of $72.42 billion, a PE ratio of 46.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during 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%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.80.

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.