Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 142,063 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,958 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $33,811,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Triad Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Bank of America upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group decreased their target price on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $262.21.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE:ECL opened at $251.44 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $253.57. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $244.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $235.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13. 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 (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.57 per share. 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 is currently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares in the company, valued at $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.