Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Purchased by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2,805.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 37,167 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,635,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1,904.4% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 155,199 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,784,000 after purchasing an additional 147,456 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 13.6% during the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 146,098 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $28,978,000 after purchasing an additional 17,476 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 118,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $23,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares during the last quarter. LGT Group Foundation grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 26,289 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,228,000 after purchasing an additional 2,960 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FFT Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $246,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $233.65.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL traded up $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $227.49. 1,068,171 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,213,130. The company has a market capitalization of $65.04 billion, a PE ratio of 42.13, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $224.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $202.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $231.86.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. Ecolab’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. 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.