Ayrshire Capital Management LLC Raises Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Ayrshire Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,361 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 436 shares during the period. Ecolab comprises 3.1% of Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Ayrshire Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $254.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $247.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $238.82. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $258.00. 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 $72.27 billion, a PE ratio of 42.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 38.26%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group lowered their price target on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on Ecolab from $234.00 to $260.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $269.07.

About Ecolab

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.