Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 1,123 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 144.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,123 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Annex Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $326,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 4,840.0% during the 1st quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 247 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $231,000. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 3,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $719,000 after buying an additional 305 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cardinal Capital Management increased its holdings in Ecolab by 6.7% during the first quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 40,910 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,468,000 after buying an additional 2,572 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $258.24 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $251.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $240.37. The company has a market cap of $73.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.82, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.80.

Ecolab Company 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.