Candriam S.C.A. Buys 2,164 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 365,852 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,164 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $87,069,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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 business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $254.67.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.7 %

Ecolab stock opened at $245.05 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $253.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.98 billion, a PE ratio of 45.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $242.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $233.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted 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 analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.