Cardinal Capital Management Has $9.47 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Cardinal Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 6.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,910 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,572 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for approximately 1.5% of Cardinal Capital Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Cardinal Capital Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Personal Financial Services acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 150.0% during the fourth quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 135 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Motco bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Rise Advisors LLC increased its stake 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 worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 143 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Raymond James boosted their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $239.56.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL traded down $1.10 on Thursday, hitting $239.55. The stock had a trading volume of 683,154 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,171,734. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $245.93. 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 has a market capitalization of $68.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $232.92 and a 200-day moving average of $218.82.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 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 transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.