Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC Acquires Shares of 2,520 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 2,520 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Motco acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC bought a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $253.25 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $72.32 billion, a PE ratio of 46.90, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $243.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $235.29. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $253.57.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on ECL shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $257.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value 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. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,014,586.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.