Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 30,570 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,259 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.80.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.1 %

ECL stock opened at $253.49 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $72.13 billion, a PE ratio of 42.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $262.61. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $252.07 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $240.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 38.26%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.