Sunbelt Securities Inc. Sells 69 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 12.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $115,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Peak Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,424,000 after purchasing an additional 51 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.1% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $704,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $239.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Ecolab Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of ECL opened at $238.00 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $67.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.07, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $245.93. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $233.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $219.45.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The business 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%. Ecolab’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

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.