Woodstock Corp Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Woodstock Corp grew its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 50,933 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,152 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for 1.1% of Woodstock Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Woodstock Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,509,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 9,377 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,552,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 4.5% in the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 1,432 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $238,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 13.3% in the first quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 545 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $90,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the period. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.8% in the first quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,447 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 67 shares during the period. Finally, Abbrea Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% in the first quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 7,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,282,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. 73.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $183.73 per share, for a total transaction of $119,424.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 15,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,768,994.83. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $163.00 to $181.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 5th. TheStreet upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “c” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $213.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, September 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $193.86.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of ECL stock traded up $1.22 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $178.89. 620,945 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,075,490. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.22. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $131.04 and a one year high of $191.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $183.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $174.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $50.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 19th will be issued a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 18th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.19%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.58%.

Ecolab 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.