Central Valley Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Central Valley Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,434 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,000.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Riverwater Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares during the period. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $557,000 after buying an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC now owns 3,549 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $704,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bluffs Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,605 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $916,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 6,805 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,350,000 after purchasing an additional 57 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on ECL shares. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 target price on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $239.56.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.6 %

ECL stock traded down $1.32 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $233.68. 270,546 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,169,674. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $236.00. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $226.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $209.43. The company has a market capitalization of $66.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.52, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 5.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 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.