Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Kesler Norman & Wride LLC

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,275 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 517 shares during the period. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $365,420,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 117.9% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,669,583 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $282,185,000 after acquiring an additional 903,307 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 19,062.1% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 555,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $110,261,000 after acquiring an additional 552,992 shares during the period. Findlay Park Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $91,178,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,877,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,875,434,000 after acquiring an additional 387,545 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.1 %

ECL stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Thursday, reaching $235.85. The stock had a trading volume of 678,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,156,694. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $245.93. 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 company has a market capitalization of $67.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.68, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.11. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $234.66 and a 200 day moving average price of $220.25.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $233.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group boosted 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. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.