Ecolab Inc. $ECL Stock Sold by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 73.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,593 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 4,504 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $438,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Studio Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 3,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $999,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Vancity Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Vancity Investment Management Ltd now owns 2,859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $797,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the period. Heartland Bank & Trust Co grew its stake in Ecolab by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,117 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares during the period. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Ecolab by 3.6% during the third quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 1,218 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $334,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Altus USA Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 64.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total value of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $302.80 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.15 and a 1 year high of $309.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $282.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $276.14. The company has a market capitalization of $84.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.87.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The basic materials company reported $2.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.57% and a net margin of 11.99%. The company had revenue of $4.69 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 12.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.73%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ECL. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ecolab from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $287.00 to $310.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $344.00 to $357.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $328.58.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.