Essex Financial Services Inc. Takes $222,000 Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Essex Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 18.6% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 38,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,561,000 after purchasing an additional 6,078 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% in the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 203,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $34,501,000 after buying an additional 11,448 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,695 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $795,000 after acquiring an additional 211 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 333.1% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 1,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $199,000 after acquiring an additional 906 shares during the period. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 28.3% in the 3rd quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,460 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $227.50 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $231.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $224.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $202.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The company has a market cap of $65.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.13, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, April 12th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $185.00 to $216.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $236.88.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. 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.