IFM Investors Pty Ltd Buys 5,256 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 56,530 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,256 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $14,434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth $33,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $256.38 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $262.61. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $251.48 and its 200-day moving average is $240.49. The firm has a market cap of $73.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $271.80.

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.