First Financial Bank Trust Division Decreases Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

First Financial Bank Trust Division trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.8% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 28,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,107 shares during the period. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group cut their target price on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Citigroup raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $267.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $253.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The firm has a market cap of $72.53 billion, a PE ratio of 47.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $245.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $237.62. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $256.59.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 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.