Livelsberger Financial Advisory Takes $137,000 Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 536 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $137,000. Ecolab makes up 2.9% of Livelsberger Financial Advisory’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.7 %

ECL stock traded down $1.86 during trading on Monday, hitting $259.60. 257,070 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,084,459. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.42, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $250.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $239.91. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $156.72 and a 1 year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.80.

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.