Banco Santander S.A. Sells 1,121 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• Banco Santander S.A. reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, owning 56,440 shares valued at approximately $14.3 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their positions in Ecolab, with GAMMA Investing LLC boosting their holdings by a striking 27,182.2%.
• Ecolab recently reported earnings of $1.89 per share, slightly missing analyst expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 1.0%.

Banco Santander S.A. decreased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 1.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 56,440 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,121 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $14,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 176.7% in the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 70.6% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $38,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL traded up $2.17 on Tuesday, hitting $266.45. 1,138,900 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,326,740. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $274.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $266.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $256.92. The stock has a market cap of $75.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.06.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $273.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $290.71.

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.