Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Hits New 1-Year High After Insider Buying Activity

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday following insider buying activity. The stock traded as high as $232.52 and last traded at $232.45, with a volume of 368525 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $228.95.

Specifically, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ECL. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Raymond James increased their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $236.88.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market cap of $66.63 billion, a PE ratio of 43.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $225.01 and a 200 day moving average of $204.50.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. 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 payout ratio is 42.22%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 62.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 101,681 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $16,834,000 after purchasing an additional 39,155 shares during the period. Advisor Partners II LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 20.6% during the third quarter. Advisor Partners II LLC now owns 6,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,063,000 after acquiring an additional 1,071 shares during the last quarter. Graypoint LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 1,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its position in Ecolab by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 19,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,324,000 after purchasing an additional 383 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smith Salley & Associates increased its stake in Ecolab by 5.7% in the third quarter. Smith Salley & Associates now owns 4,857 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $823,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ecolab

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.