CNB Bank Has $601,000 Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

CNB Bank raised its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,355 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 243 shares during the quarter. CNB Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 84.3% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 13,415 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,098,000 after purchasing an additional 6,137 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 50.9% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,922 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,171,000 after buying an additional 1,660 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 19.1% during the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 21,198 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,895,000 after buying an additional 3,393 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $1,194,000. Finally, Chemung Canal Trust Co. grew its stake in Ecolab by 46.8% in the first quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 30,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,953,000 after acquiring an additional 9,601 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $98,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $271.80.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE ECL opened at $261.46 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $74.67 billion, a PE ratio of 48.42, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $250.32 and a 200-day moving average of $239.83.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. The business’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

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.