Financial Partners Group LLC Increases Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Financial Partners Group LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 40,530 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the quarter. Ecolab comprises 3.8% of Financial Partners Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Financial Partners Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,567,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Edgestream Partners L.P. raised its stake in Ecolab by 253.4% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 5,464 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,020,000 after purchasing an additional 3,918 shares during the last quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $411,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 0.8% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 117,640 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $21,962,000 after buying an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Jade Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 66.7% during the second quarter. Jade Capital Advisors LLC now owns 25,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,667,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 44.3% in the 2nd quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 9,046 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,689,000 after acquiring an additional 2,776 shares in the last quarter. 73.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $0.78 during trading on Friday, reaching $184.35. The company had a trading volume of 986,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,076,697. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $140.13 and a 52 week high of $191.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $170.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $176.81. The stock has a market cap of $52.57 billion, a PE ratio of 42.77, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 0.92 and a current ratio of 1.26.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 31st. The basic materials company reported $1.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.52 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.96 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.99 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 8.18% and a return on equity of 18.81%. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ECL. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $194.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, September 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $187.00 to $193.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $186.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ecolab from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $194.64.

About Ecolab

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.