PrairieView Partners LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• PrairieView Partners LLC reduced its stake in Ecolab by 27.0%, now holding 2,594 shares valued at $657,000, following the sale of 960 shares during the first quarter.
• Ecolab reported $1.89 earnings per share for the last quarter, slightly missing the consensus estimate of $1.90, with total revenue matching analyst expectations at $4.03 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $2.60 and a dividend yield of 1.0%.

PrairieView Partners LLC decreased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 27.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,594 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 960 shares during the period. PrairieView Partners LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $657,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Forum Financial Management LP grew its position in Ecolab by 2.8% in the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,449 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,980 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $755,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% during the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 902 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $525,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $703,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock traded up $3.06 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $272.83. The stock had a trading volume of 833,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,143,075. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $274.17. The company has a market capitalization of $77.38 billion, a PE ratio of 36.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's fifty day moving average is $267.07 and its two-hundred day moving average is $257.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 34.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group upgraded Ecolab from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $290.71.

Ecolab Company 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.