Rathbones Group PLC Sells 10,998 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 3.8%, holding approximately 0.10% of the company worth $69.7 million after selling 10,998 shares in the first quarter.
• Ecolab recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with a yield of 1.0%, scheduled to be paid on October 15th to shareholders of record on September 16th.
• The stock opened at $273.45, with analysts predicting 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year, while Ecolab reported a net margin of 13.59% and a revenue of $4.03 billion for the last quarter.

Rathbones Group PLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 3.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 274,905 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 10,998 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC owned approximately 0.10% of Ecolab worth $69,694,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 27,182.2% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $459,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $337,563,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 27,677.8% in the first quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $253,520,000 after acquiring an additional 996,400 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 79.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $319,641,000 after acquiring an additional 558,947 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Ecolab by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. Baird R W raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays cut their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $291.21.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.87 during trading on Friday, hitting $280.85. The company had a trading volume of 1,250,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,312,442. The stock's 50-day moving average is $268.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $258.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $281.96.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 34.71%.

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.