Gail Peterson Sells 934 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Stock

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) SVP Gail Peterson sold 934 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $163,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $274,225. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2 %

Ecolab stock opened at $175.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.90 billion, a PE ratio of 43.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50-day moving average is $165.99 and its 200-day moving average is $156.22. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.04 and a fifty-two week high of $179.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 7.96% and a return on equity of 18.05%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 4.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 20th will be paid a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 16th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.21%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.48%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $164.00 to $182.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Ecolab from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $155.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $175.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 3rd. Finally, 92 Resources reaffirmed a “maintains” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $178.20.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Robbins Farley bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Live Oak Investment Partners bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 135.6% in the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 1,189.5% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.76% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company Profile

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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.