Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Buys 1,181 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,324 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,181 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Coastline Trust Co bought a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $243.39 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $251.86 and a 200-day moving average of $244.18. The company has a market cap of $68.92 billion, a PE ratio of 34.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.30, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $186.00 and a 1-year high of $262.61.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 83,873 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $245.96, for a total value of $20,629,403.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 29,534,868 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,264,396,133.28. The trade was a 0.28 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 662,228 shares of company stock worth $163,358,368 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus 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.