Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Cuts Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 142,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,958 shares during the quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $33,811,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter worth $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.21.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of ECL opened at $251.44 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $244.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $235.94. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $253.57.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Ecolab Profile

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.