M. Kraus & Co Reduces Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

M. Kraus & Co lowered its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 37,946 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,012 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up approximately 2.9% of M. Kraus & Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. M. Kraus & Co's holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,620,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $505,000 after buying an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $285,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,980 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,317 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,012,000 after purchasing an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $263.81 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.75, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $252.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.16. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $220.96 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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 paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays decreased their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Redburn Atlantic downgraded Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.13.

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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