Carnegie Investment Counsel Raises Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 19.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 153,938 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 25,406 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up about 0.8% of Carnegie Investment Counsel's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Carnegie Investment Counsel owned about 0.05% of Ecolab worth $35,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded up $2.10 on Friday, hitting $271.93. 972,465 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,147,949. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $266.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $255.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $220.96 and a 12 month high of $274.17.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

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 shares were acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ecolab from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 9th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $288.33.

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.