1,829 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (ECL) Acquired by Argus Investors Counsel Inc.

Argus Investors Counsel Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $257,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Wagner Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $112,000. Signaturefd LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter worth approximately $131,000. Ashburton Jersey Ltd raised its position in Ecolab by 302.9% in the fourth quarter. Ashburton Jersey Ltd now owns 1,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $184,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Retirement Income Solutions Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter worth approximately $216,000. Finally, Greenleaf Trust raised its position in Ecolab by 540.7% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 1,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 1,460 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 75.95% of the company’s stock.

Get Ecolab alerts:

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Nomura increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $136.00 to $146.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 28th. Credit Suisse Group increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $137.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Ecolab from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 2nd. Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $165.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 3rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank increased their price target on shares of Ecolab to $140.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. The company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $145.44.

Shares of ECL stock traded down $2.10 on Thursday, hitting $141.90. 1,148,900 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,276,900. The company has a market capitalization of $41.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.26, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 1.00. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $125.74 and a 52 week high of $150.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.77.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 1st. The basic materials company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.89 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.47 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.38 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.62% and a return on equity of 19.01%. The company’s revenue was up 9.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.80 EPS. equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 19th were given a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 18th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.16%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 34.97%.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and energy technologies and services for customers worldwide. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional, and Global Energy segments. The Global Industrial segment provides water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions primarily to large industrial customers within the manufacturing, food and beverage processing, chemical, mining and primary metals, power generation, pulp and paper, and commercial laundry industries.

Featured Article: Short Selling Stocks, A Beginner��s Guide