Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC

Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 159 shares during the quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $447,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 150.0% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Motco acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 2,042.9% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL traded down $2.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $231.55. 1,484,392 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,167,712. The company has a market capitalization of $66.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $249.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $239.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $227.76.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on ECL shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven equities research 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 company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $249.13.

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.