Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC Reduces Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,669 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for about 1.5% of Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 11.6% during the first quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 77,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,550,000 after acquiring an additional 8,001 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 55.5% during the first quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 4,376 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,109,000 after purchasing an additional 1,561 shares during the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 17.1% during the first quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 12,527 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,176,000 after purchasing an additional 1,827 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 159,300.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,594 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $404,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in Ecolab by 5.9% during the first quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 57,883 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $14,674,000 after buying an additional 3,241 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of Ecolab 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Argus upgraded Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.13.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $265.61 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $248.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $248.65. The company has a market capitalization of $75.34 billion, a PE ratio of 35.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $273.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 35.33%.

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.