Vest Financial LLC Raises Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Vest Financial LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 198,962 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,540 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up about 1.1% of Vest Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Vest Financial LLC owned about 0.07% of Ecolab worth $47,353,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after purchasing an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,264,757 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $449,215,000 after buying an additional 91,547 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,149,000 after buying an additional 43,553 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,420,000. Finally, Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $390,687,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on ECL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $254.67.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of ECL stock opened at $249.42 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business has a 50-day moving average of $243.07 and a 200 day moving average of $234.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.23 billion, a PE ratio of 46.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $253.54.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.