Vontobel Holding Ltd. Increases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 250,138 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,787 shares during the quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $63,868,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 2.3% in the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank increased its position in Ecolab by 17.3% in the third quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc increased its position in Ecolab by 1.6% in the second quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 42.1% in the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 4,290 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $990,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $98,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 24,041 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,010,250. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $269.07.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL traded up $1.78 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $260.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 128,355 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,087,942. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $248.88 and a 200 day moving average of $239.24. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $156.72 and a one year high of $261.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.26 billion, a PE ratio of 47.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 21.65% and a net margin of 10.95%. Ecolab’s revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 17th were issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.