Colonial Trust Advisors Acquires 2,729 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Colonial Trust Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 12.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,506 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 2,729 shares during the period. Colonial Trust Advisors’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup cut their target price on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $273.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $291.21.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE ECL opened at $280.49 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.45, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $268.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $259.02. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $282.67. 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) last released 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). The company had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.71%.

Ecolab 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.