Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Position Boosted by Mcdaniel Terry & Co.

Mcdaniel Terry & Co. lifted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 162,732 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 943 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up about 3.5% of Mcdaniel Terry & Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Mcdaniel Terry & Co. owned about 0.06% of Ecolab worth $41,550,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 1.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after purchasing an additional 304,402 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Ecolab by 5.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,851,000 after purchasing an additional 122,715 shares during the last quarter. Mirova US LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter worth $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America upgraded shares of 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 research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Robert W. Baird boosted 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. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.80.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Ecolab Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE ECL opened at $256.38 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $251.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $240.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The stock has a market cap of $73.21 billion, a PE ratio of 47.48, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Ecolab 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.