G&S Capital LLC Has $712,000 Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

G&S Capital LLC reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,084 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 63 shares during the period. G&S Capital LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $712,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Personal Financial Services bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Motco bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2,042.9% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $240.68 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $68.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $232.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $218.67. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $245.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their target price on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Ecolab in a report on Friday, March 1st. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $239.56.

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.