Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,900,000 shares, an increase of 8.0% from the October 31st total of 1,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 978,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays raised their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. UBS Group lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total transaction of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. This represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The trade was a 1.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 834,959 shares of company stock valued at $205,323,667 over the last quarter. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ecolab

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 27,950.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 738,567 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,578,000 after buying an additional 735,934 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 295.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 791,246 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $188,317,000 after purchasing an additional 591,040 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Ecolab by 580.7% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 303,565 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $72,248,000 after buying an additional 258,971 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 136.0% during the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 359,106 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $85,467,000 after buying an additional 206,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in Ecolab by 87.0% during the 2nd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 333,511 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,376,000 after buying an additional 155,168 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.2 %

ECL traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $248.79. 249,579 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,086,269. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $251.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $245.19. Ecolab has a 52-week low of $188.80 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.45 billion, a PE ratio of 34.81, a PEG ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.