Maple Capital Management Inc. Buys 271 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Maple Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,889 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 271 shares during the quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $11,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. &PARTNERS bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $228,000. Capital Advisors Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $226,000. Annex Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $326,000. Sound Income Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4,840.0% in the first quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 247 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $231,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

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

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on ECL shares. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $271.80.

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.