EP Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

EP Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 14.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,722 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 465 shares during the quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $629,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 150.0% in the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Motco acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rise Advisors LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 2,042.9% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 12th. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James lifted their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $244.06.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL traded up $1.58 on Friday, reaching $245.24. 848,658 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,139,493. The stock has a market cap of $70.03 billion, a PE ratio of 45.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $248.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $239.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $225.20.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th were issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio 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.