Kentucky Retirement Systems Has $4.56 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kentucky Retirement Systems decreased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 120 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,558,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 46.1% in the 4th quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $743,000 after acquiring an additional 1,182 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 42.0% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 5,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $995,000 after purchasing an additional 1,483 shares in the last quarter. Moreno Evelyn V boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Moreno Evelyn V now owns 1,664 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $330,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. Team Hewins LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $215,000. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE raised its position in Ecolab by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 20,689 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,104,000 after buying an additional 193 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $257.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $251.21 on Friday. 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 $253.57. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $244.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $235.67. The stock has a market cap of $71.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.52, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

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.