Wealthsource Partners LLC Takes $316,000 Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Wealthsource Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 2,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC grew its position in Ecolab by 73.2% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC now owns 233,323 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $33,697,000 after acquiring an additional 98,609 shares during the period. Bradley Mark J. grew its position in Ecolab by 45.9% during the third quarter. Bradley Mark J. now owns 17,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,485,000 after acquiring an additional 5,410 shares during the period. Neuberger Berman Group LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 180.7% during the third quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 604,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $87,361,000 after acquiring an additional 389,400 shares during the period. Virtue Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the third quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, Northeast Financial Consultants Inc grew its position in Ecolab by 116.1% during the third quarter. Northeast Financial Consultants Inc now owns 6,721 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $971,000 after acquiring an additional 3,611 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on ECL shares. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Ecolab from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $185.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. StockNews.com upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, February 27th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 15th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $173.13.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 4,404 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.95, for a total value of $717,631.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,027,423.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.8 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $160.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 1.30. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $131.04 and a one year high of $185.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $155.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $151.99. The stock has a market cap of $45.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.98.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $1.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.25 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.69 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 7.69%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 21st will be issued a $0.53 dividend. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 20th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 55.50%.

About Ecolab

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Ecolab, Inc engages in the provision of products and services in the field of water, hygiene, and energy. It operates through the following segments: Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, Global Energy & Life Science, and Other. The Global Industrial segment consists of the water, food and beverage, paper, and downstream operating segments.