Colonial Trust Advisors Increases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

by · The Cerbat Gem

Colonial Trust Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Free Report) by 12.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 24,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,729 shares during the quarter. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,188,736,000 after acquiring an additional 261,489 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,036,485,000 after acquiring an additional 93,409 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in Ecolab by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $831,744,000 after acquiring an additional 200,612 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Ecolab by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $733,201,000 after acquiring an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,718,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $689,154,000 after acquiring an additional 173,298 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Baird R W raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho raised their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup cut their target price on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.21.

Read Our Latest Analysis on ECL

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $280.49 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $79.55 billion, a PE ratio of 37.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $268.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $259.02. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $282.67.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.71%.

Ecolab Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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