Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Sees Large Volume Increase

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 523,258 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 51% from the previous session’s volume of 1,075,233 shares.The stock last traded at $178.66 and had previously closed at $177.67.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ECL. StockNews.com cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 4th. Bank of America raised their target price on Ecolab from $163.00 to $181.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 5th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ecolab from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ecolab from $200.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $193.86.

Ecolab Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $51.00 billion, a PE ratio of 43.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $183.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.29.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.21 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $3.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.86 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.33% and a net margin of 7.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.10 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 5.08 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 18th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.18%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 51.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $183.73 per share, with a total value of $119,424.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 15,071 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,768,994.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Toroso Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.2% in the first quarter. Toroso Investments LLC now owns 17,037 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,820,000 after buying an additional 374 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 184.7% in the 1st quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 31,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,295,000 after buying an additional 20,753 shares in the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in Ecolab by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 16,100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,665,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 786,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $130,199,000 after buying an additional 14,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Eight Capital LP bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $421,000. 73.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.