Geneva Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Geneva Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,357 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 418 shares during the quarter. Geneva Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $990,000 after purchasing an additional 47 shares during the period. Peak Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 12,221 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,424,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 1,654 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $328,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,810 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $557,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.1% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 343 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE ECL traded up $1.23 during trading on Thursday, hitting $244.50. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 985,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,167,149. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $245.93. The company has a market cap of $69.82 billion, a PE ratio of 45.40, a P/E/G ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.11. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $236.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $221.79.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $243.44.

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.