Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Lowers Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 17.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,205 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 6,978 shares during the quarter. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS's holdings in Ecolab were worth $8,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st 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 acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $288.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.5%

ECL stock traded up $1.31 on Thursday, reaching $269.03. 389,342 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,329,656. The company has a market cap of $76.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $220.96 and a one year high of $274.17. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $264.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $253.67.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.33%.

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.