Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.
Ecolab Stock Up 1.8 %
Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $233.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $225.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $204.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock has a market cap of $66.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $233.30.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.
Ecolab Announces Dividend
Shocking: One AI startup's revenue could surge 4,735%
From Manward Press | Ad
Shocking: One AI Startup's Revenue Could Surge 4,735%
While Nvidia gets all the attention, one small AI startup is quietly positioning itself to be the biggest winner.
Click here to discover the AI chip company
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts have commented on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James upped their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ecolab from $211.00 to $227.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Mizuho raised Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $236.88.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Ecolab
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,182,456 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,598,240,000 after buying an additional 305,039 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Ecolab by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,774,960 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $470,078,000 after acquiring an additional 123,572 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,555,758 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $432,945,000 after purchasing an additional 41,545 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,294,838 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $391,224,000 after purchasing an additional 85,985 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,264,757 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $449,215,000 after purchasing an additional 91,547 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
About Ecolab
(
Get Free Report)
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.
Featured Stories
This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from InsiderTrades.com in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by InsiderTrades.com's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected].
