Ingalls & Snyder LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 14,285 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Ingalls & Snyder LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,896,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America boosted its stake in Ecolab by 0.7% in the first quarter. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America now owns 1,012 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the last quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 0.3% in the first quarter. Rench Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Ironwood Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 0.7% in the second quarter. Ironwood Investment Management LLC now owns 2,708 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $359,000 after buying an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors boosted its stake in Ecolab by 2.5% in the first quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 871 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.2% in the first quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,530 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $317,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.73% of the company’s stock.
Ecolab Inc. (ECL) opened at 130.11 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $37.65 billion, a PE ratio of 29.75 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $132.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.14. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.65 and a 52 week high of $134.89.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.40 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 18.93%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post $4.80 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 18th. This represents a $1.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.14%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 33.79%.
TRADEMARK VIOLATION NOTICE: This story was first published by StockNewsTimes and is the sole property of of StockNewsTimes. If you are viewing this story on another site, it was illegally stolen and reposted in violation of U.S. and international copyright & trademark laws. The original version of this story can be read at https://stocknewstimes.com/2017/08/19/ingalls-snyder-llc-buys-50-shares-of-ecolab-inc-ecl.html.
ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Zacks Investment Research cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Canaccord Genuity restated a “buy” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Monday, May 1st. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. restated an “outperform” rating and set a $141.00 target price (up from $133.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, June 2nd. J P Morgan Chase & Co upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $138.00 in a research note on Friday, May 26th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group set a $128.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.20.
In related news, EVP Stephen M. Taylor sold 23,151 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.06, for a total transaction of $3,080,472.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,466 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,916,645.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bruno Lavandier sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $133.52, for a total transaction of $133,520.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 8,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,191,265.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 37,851 shares of company stock valued at $5,012,802 over the last ninety days. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Ecolab Company Profile
Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene and energy technologies and services. The Company’s cleaning and sanitizing programs and products, pest elimination services and equipment maintenance and repair services support customers in the foodservice, food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, government and education, retail, textile care and commercial facilities management sectors in over 170 countries.
Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ECL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL).
Receive News & Ratings for Ecolab Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ecolab Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
