StoneX Group Inc. Acquires New Shares in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

StoneX Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 1,987 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $548,000.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Wellington Altus USA Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 64.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co acquired a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter worth $30,000. Polaris Financial Partners acquired a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the third quarter worth $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $307.51 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $285.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $277.31. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.15 and a 12-month high of $318.93. The company has a market capitalization of $86.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 11.99%. The business had revenue of $4.69 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total value of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at $20,431,170.48. This represents a 19.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Zacks Research raised shares of Ecolab from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 7th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $344.00 to $357.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 28th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $330.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 28th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Ecolab from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $328.58.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab Inc. provides water, hygiene, cleaning and infection-prevention products and services to businesses and institutions. Its solutions help customers manage water use, maintain sanitary environments and support operational efficiency. The company serves a range of industries, including food and beverage, foodservice, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences and manufacturing. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing products, water-treatment programs, pest-elimination services, and related monitoring and consulting support.