SouthState Corp Sells 592 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

SouthState Corp decreased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,944 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 592 shares during the quarter. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Invesco LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Invesco LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $250,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $201,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,097 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $250.87 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $217.05 and a 12 month high of $273.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $252.47 and its 200-day moving average is $249.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $71.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.99, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.14.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 11th. The basic materials company reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.81. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 18th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 400 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $264.51 per share, with a total value of $105,804.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 18,767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,964,059.17. This represents a 2.18 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total value of $2,898,543.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares in the company, valued at $4,202,860.80. This represents a 40.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 17,435 shares of company stock valued at $4,637,985 over the last 90 days. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Barclays upped their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $263.00 to $280.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $288.00.

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.