Fiduciary Alliance LLC Reduces Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Fiduciary Alliance LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 14.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 993 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 172 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $226,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Chemung Canal Trust Co. grew its stake in Ecolab by 46.8% in the 1st quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 30,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,953,000 after buying an additional 9,601 shares in the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 50,612 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,686,000 after buying an additional 1,634 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 5,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,301,000 after buying an additional 375 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO grew its stake in Ecolab by 47.8% in the 1st quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 739 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $171,000 after buying an additional 239 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $247,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $238.00 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $233.72 and a 200-day moving average of $219.60. The firm has a market cap of $67.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.11. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $245.93.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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 $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab 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 sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab 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 transaction, 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. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ECL. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $269.00 to $270.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup increased their target price on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.