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Davis R M Inc. Cuts Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Ecolab logo with Basic Materials background

Key Points

  • Davis R M Inc. reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 3.1%, selling 3,581 shares, leaving them with 110,366 shares valued at approximately $27.98 million.
  • The company reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.89 for the last quarter, slightly missing analysts' estimates, while revenue matched the forecast at $4.03 billion.
  • Ecolab also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.60, with a yield of 0.99%.
  • MarketBeat previews the top five stocks to own by September 1st.

Davis R M Inc. cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 110,366 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 3,581 shares during the period. Davis R M Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $27,980,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 164.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its position in Ecolab by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,752 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,051,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 35,391 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,293,000 after buying an additional 2,713 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 48.0% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 2,781 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $654,000 after buying an additional 902 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 49.5% during the 4th quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC now owns 4,027 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $944,000 after buying an additional 1,333 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE ECL traded down $0.96 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $260.80. 858,978 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,140,486. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $274.17. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $256.47. The stock has a market cap of $73.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ECL. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Barclays reduced their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $290.71.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Ecolab

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Ecolab (NYSE:ECL)

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