Sonen Capital LLC Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sonen Capital LLC raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) by 26.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 609 shares during the quarter. Sonen Capital LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $516,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Rational Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 133.3% in the fourth quarter. Rational Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. US Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, O Dell Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 62.1% in the first quarter. O Dell Group LLC now owns 188 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $195.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 27th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Friday, June 3rd. They set a “hold” rating and a $191.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, July 12th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $187.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $191.00 to $190.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 27th. Finally, Argus cut their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $194.12.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of ECL traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $166.50. The company had a trading volume of 654,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,066,798. The company has a market capitalization of $47.56 billion, a PE ratio of 43.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.29, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $143.82 and a one year high of $238.93. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $159.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.74.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 8.17%. The firm had revenue of $3.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.48 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.22 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 20th will be paid a dividend of $0.51 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 19th. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.74, for a total transaction of $533,568.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,756,652.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ecolab news, EVP Michael C. Mccormick sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $167.72, for a total transaction of $503,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 50,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,396,063.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 3,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $166.74, for a total value of $533,568.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,756,652.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Company Profile

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Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segments. 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.