Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Holdings Trimmed by LRI Investments LLC

LRI Investments LLC decreased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,531 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 463 shares during the period. LRI Investments LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 796,170 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $203,285,000 after purchasing an additional 69,142 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 301,591 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $77,005,000 after purchasing an additional 16,747 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 105,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,035,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the period. Graypoint LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Graypoint LLC now owns 2,225 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 54,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $12,804,000 after purchasing an additional 3,055 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2%

ECL opened at $252.78 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The business has a 50-day moving average of $247.38 and a 200-day moving average of $247.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $71.70 billion, a PE ratio of 34.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 35.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $282.47.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 856 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $267.37, for a total transaction of $228,868.72. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 4,140 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,106,911.80. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 400 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $264.51 per share, for a total transaction of $105,804.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 18,767 shares in the company, valued at $4,964,059.17. The trade was a 2.18% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

About Ecolab

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.