Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV Sells 444 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,368 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 444 shares during the quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,647,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after purchasing an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Ecolab by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $608,851,000 after acquiring an additional 122,715 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after buying an additional 43,553 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ECL. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.80.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

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

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $259.15 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The stock has a market cap of $74.01 billion, a PE ratio of 47.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $250.75 and a 200-day moving average of $240.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.50.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Ecolab’s payout ratio 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.