North Star Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 66,721 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 723 shares during the period. North Star Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $8,362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 60.0% in the first quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co now owns 800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $100,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. JNBA Financial Advisors raised its position in Ecolab by 2.5% in the first quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 871 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $109,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Harfst & Associates Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth approximately $117,000. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America raised its position in Ecolab by 0.7% in the first quarter. Guardian Life Insurance Co. of America now owns 1,012 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 7 shares during the period. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue bought a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth approximately $134,000. Institutional investors own 75.73% of the company’s stock.
Ecolab Inc. (ECL) traded down 1.11% on Thursday, hitting $130.94. The stock had a trading volume of 330,123 shares. The company has a market cap of $37.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.94 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $132.18 and its 200-day moving average is $128.07. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $110.65 and a 52-week high of $134.89.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 9.66% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The business had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.08 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post $4.80 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.37 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 18th. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.12%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 33.79%.
COPYRIGHT VIOLATION NOTICE: “Ecolab Inc. (ECL) Stake Boosted by North Star Asset Management Inc.” was originally reported by StockNewsTimes and is the property of of StockNewsTimes. If you are accessing this piece on another website, it was illegally copied and republished in violation of international copyright & trademark laws. The original version of this piece can be accessed at https://stocknewstimes.com/2017/08/17/ecolab-inc-ecl-stake-increased-by-north-star-asset-management-inc-updated-updated.html.
A number of equities analysts have commented on ECL shares. Zacks Investment Research lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Canaccord Genuity reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Monday, May 1st. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $141.00 target price (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, June 2nd. J P Morgan Chase & Co raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $120.00 to $138.00 in a report on Friday, May 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $140.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.20.
In related news, major shareholder William H. Gates III purchased 75,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $132.57 per share, for a total transaction of $10,009,035.00. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Christophe Beck sold 6,959 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.11, for a total transaction of $884,558.49. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,419 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,391,879.09. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 44,810 shares of company stock worth $5,897,361 in the last 90 days. 1.49% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Ecolab Company Profile
Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene and energy technologies and services. The Company’s cleaning and sanitizing programs and products, pest elimination services and equipment maintenance and repair services support customers in the foodservice, food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, government and education, retail, textile care and commercial facilities management sectors in over 170 countries.
Receive News & Ratings for Ecolab Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Ecolab Inc. and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
