Stone Summit Wealth LLC Boosts Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

by · The Markets Daily

Stone Summit Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Free Report) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,512 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Stone Summit Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CNB Bank raised its stake in Ecolab by 14.2% in the first quarter. CNB Bank now owns 3,028 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $768,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. AMI Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,656,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 491,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $124,605,000 after acquiring an additional 6,632 shares during the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth about $249,000. Finally, Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $214,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $263.60 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $257.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.05. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $220.96 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $74.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.81, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup cut their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.13.

View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Ecolab

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Ecolab

(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.

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