CWA Asset Management Group LLC Trims Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

CWA Asset Management Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,714 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 78 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $521,399,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 27,182.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $459,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares during the period. Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 98.6% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $334,394,000 after purchasing an additional 708,432 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 514,944 shares during the period. Finally, Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,564,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Five investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $283.13.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $261.02 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $255.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $250.60. The company has a market cap of $74.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.46, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.