First PREMIER Bank Trims Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

First PREMIER Bank cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 208 shares during the period. First PREMIER Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 during the period. Motco bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. LRI Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2,042.9% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, DSM Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.38 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $239.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 882,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,159,250. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $156.72 and a 52-week high of $249.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $240.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $229.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.50. The stock has a market cap of $68.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.42, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given 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, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ECL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ecolab from $227.00 to $234.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $250.00.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. 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.

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.