Wealthfront Advisers LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Wealthfront Advisers LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 25,007 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,248 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,738,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 202.6% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 70.6% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.0%

Ecolab stock opened at $280.02 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $286.04. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $274.36 and its 200-day moving average is $265.74. The company has a market cap of $79.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.39, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 34.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.69.

Ecolab Company 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.