LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Acquires 1,655 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 78,211 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,655 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for approximately 2.7% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $19,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its position 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 in the last quarter. Graney & King LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 176.7% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the business'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 acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $283.13.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $266.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.15, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $220.96 and a one year high of $273.69. The company's fifty day moving average is $255.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $250.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for 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 business's revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. Analysts forecast 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 will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 35.33%.

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.

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