L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP Reduces Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP lessened its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,527 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up 1.1% of L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,007,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Sargent Investment Group LLC now owns 1,874 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $438,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Argus upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $283.13.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $267.39 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $75.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.23, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $220.96 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $249.05 and its 200 day moving average is $249.04. 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 issued 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. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.