Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 36.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,720 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $943,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 15.6% in the first quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 754 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Ecolab by 64.5% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,898 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,136 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Ecolab by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 101,001 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $24,014,000 after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Ecolab by 206.7% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 767,108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $179,749,000 after acquiring an additional 516,970 shares during the period. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank grew its position in Ecolab by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 37,617 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $8,822,000 after acquiring an additional 5,189 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ECL. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. 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. Mizuho decreased their price target on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.13.

Ecolab Stock Down 2.6%

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $7.14 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $263.81. The company had a trading volume of 1,221,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,176,580. The company has a market capitalization of $74.83 billion, a PE ratio of 35.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $220.96 and a 1-year high of $273.69. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $252.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.16.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.04% of the stock is currently 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.