Hemenway Trust Co LLC Sells 145 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Hemenway Trust Co LLC decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,716 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 145 shares during the period. Hemenway Trust Co LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,210,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 50.6% in the first quarter. DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. now owns 241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management lifted its stake in Ecolab by 0.6% in the first quarter. Cardinal Capital Management now owns 42,061 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,690,000 after acquiring an additional 262 shares during the period. Chicago Capital LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 46.0% during the 1st quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 17,026 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,316,000 after purchasing an additional 5,367 shares during the period. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 45.1% in the 1st quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,906 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $483,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Lakes Retirement Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth $934,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Barclays decreased their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.13.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $261.07 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $220.96 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $253.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $250.36.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Ecolab 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.