Magnetar Financial LLC Acquires New Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Magnetar Financial LLC bought a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,592 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $598,000.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Motco purchased a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2,042.9% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Ecolab from $257.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $244.06.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $0.47 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $245.71. 48,751 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,131,918. The company has a market cap of $70.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.41, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $239.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $225.94. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $248.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm 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 was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

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

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.