Sunbelt Securities Inc. Reduces Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 12.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 499 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 69 shares during the period. Sunbelt Securities Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% in the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Motco purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 2,042.9% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $238.00 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $245.93. The business has a 50-day moving average of $233.72 and a 200-day moving average of $219.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a market capitalization of $67.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.07, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.12.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. Ecolab’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 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ECL. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Ecolab from $269.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.