Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Short Interest Update

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) saw a significant decline in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,630,000 shares, a decline of 10.4% from the August 31st total of 1,820,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 998,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 0.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of ECL. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock traded down $1.97 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $253.37. 990,656 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,113,980. Ecolab has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $256.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $72.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.92, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $245.81 and its 200-day simple moving average is $237.51.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.29.

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.