Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC Lowers Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 44,796 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 198 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up about 1.3% of Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $10,661,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth $26,000. PSI Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $27,000. Motco bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $288.00 to $276.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $254.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Victoria Reich sold 393 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,010,250. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $250.54 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $243.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $235.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $253.54. The stock has a market cap of $71.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.40, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.13.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be issued a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.