Crewe Advisors LLC Invests $151,000 in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 655 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Motco acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 2,042.9% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $1.77 during trading on Thursday, reaching $243.66. 918,161 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,141,540. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $248.60. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $239.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $225.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $69.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.12, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were given a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. UBS Group raised their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.06.

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.