Leavell Investment Management Inc. Sells 50 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Leavell Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,386 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 50 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $552,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 23.5% during the 1st quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 5,405 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,248,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Adams Natural Resources Fund Inc. now owns 50,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $11,545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,696 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $623,000 after acquiring an additional 67 shares during the period. Harvey Investment Co. LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $229,000. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,216,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $0.57 on Thursday, hitting $233.13. 687,041 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,168,091. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.41. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $236.00. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $226.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $209.60.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.01% and a return on equity of 20.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 14th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $256.00 to $257.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $239.56.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.