StoneX Group Inc. Buys New Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

StoneX Group Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 1,987 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in Ecolab by 8.3% in the third quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 2,708,147 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $743,726,000 after purchasing an additional 206,562 shares during the last quarter. Waycross Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Waycross Partners LLC now owns 110,801 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,424,000 after purchasing an additional 7,540 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,286 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $364,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Liberty Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Liberty Capital Management Inc. now owns 24,178 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,639,000 after purchasing an additional 984 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This represents a 19.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ECL. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ecolab from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, DA Davidson lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $287.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $328.58.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $307.51 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $285.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $277.31. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.15 and a 1-year high of $318.93. The firm has a market cap of $86.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.70 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 11.99%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab Inc. provides water, hygiene, cleaning and infection-prevention products and services to businesses and institutions. Its solutions help customers manage water use, maintain sanitary environments and support operational efficiency. The company serves a range of industries, including food and beverage, foodservice, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences and manufacturing. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing products, water-treatment programs, pest-elimination services, and related monitoring and consulting support.