Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 16.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,464 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,283 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,423,116,000 after buying an additional 304,402 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,851,000 after acquiring an additional 122,715 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% in the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $470,149,000 after purchasing an additional 43,553 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.8% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $326,626,000 after purchasing an additional 24,648 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.07.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8 %

ECL stock opened at $249.05 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $246.24 and its two-hundred day moving average is $238.01. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market capitalization of $71.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $256.59.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.