Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Cuts Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 39.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,359 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,894 shares during the period. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,006,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 150.0% during the 4th quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Motco acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 2,042.9% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, April 12th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5 %

Ecolab stock traded down $1.19 during trading on Thursday, reaching $239.46. 303,483 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,168,647. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $245.93. The firm has a market cap of $68.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.49, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company’s 50-day moving average is $232.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $218.82.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.