Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,336 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Stonebridge Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co raised its position in Ecolab by 60.0% in the first quarter. FUKOKU MUTUAL LIFE INSURANCE Co now owns 800 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $100,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 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 valued at $109,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Harfst & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter valued at 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 valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 7 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter valued at approximately $134,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.73% of the company’s stock.
Ecolab Inc. (ECL) traded down 0.03% during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $130.19. 146,678 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $132.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $128.08. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $110.65 and a 52 week high of $134.89. The stock has a market cap of $37.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.76 and a beta of 0.98.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.12 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 9.66%. The firm had revenue of $3.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.08 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post $4.80 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 19th will be issued a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 33.79%.
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Several research firms have recently commented on ECL. Deutsche Bank AG upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Oppenheimer Holdings, Inc. restated an “outperform” rating and set a $141.00 price target (up previously from $133.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, June 2nd. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Credit Suisse Group set a $128.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. The company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $134.20.
In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III acquired 75,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Michael A. Hickey sold 13,700 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $131.30, for a total value of $1,798,810.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,851 shares of company stock worth $5,012,802. Company insiders own 1.49% of the company’s stock.
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.
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