Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Increases Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 131.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 180,880 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 102,687 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $46,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Coastline Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter valued at $26,000. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $245.97 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $69.65 billion, a PE ratio of 34.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $252.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $244.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $182.39 and a 52-week high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The business’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.54 EPS. Analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 65,015 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $243.80, for a total transaction of $15,850,657.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,388,741 shares in the company, valued at $7,408,775,055.80. The trade was a 0.21 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 32.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 578,355 shares of company stock worth $142,728,965. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $279.87.

Ecolab Company 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.