Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Invests $261,000 in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,028 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $261,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.7%

ECL traded up $1.86 during trading on Thursday, hitting $274.32. 513,655 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,182,279. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $260.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $251.68. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $274.32. The firm has a market cap of $77.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. Ecolab's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup increased their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Barclays decreased their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $286.47.

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.