CNB Bank Boosts Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

CNB Bank increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 12.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,652 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 297 shares during the period. CNB Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,181,802 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,317,811,000 after buying an additional 68,043 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,842,114 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $981,007,000 after purchasing an additional 35,027 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in Ecolab by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $608,851,000 after purchasing an additional 122,715 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its stake in Ecolab by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,627,017 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $381,552,000 after purchasing an additional 129,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 0.6% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,403,088 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $358,250,000 after buying an additional 8,332 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $240.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $242.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $245.51. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $195.49 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $68.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.71, a PEG ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The business had revenue of $4 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.54 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $279.00 to $290.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $277.47.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 106,542 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.21, for a total value of $25,698,995.82. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,348,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,079,209,816.61. This trade represents a 0.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.