CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Sells 110,860 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 29.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 264,294 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 110,860 shares during the quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.09% of Ecolab worth $61,035,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Twin Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth about $751,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 208.2% in the 1st quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 266,788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $62,298,000 after acquiring an additional 180,212 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 31.6% in the first quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 1,788 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $414,000 after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 360.6% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 20,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,640,000 after acquiring an additional 15,733 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirova lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Mirova now owns 165,032 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $38,106,000 after purchasing an additional 5,019 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $1.29 on Wednesday, reaching $245.43. 1,228,359 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,143,050. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.09 billion, a PE ratio of 45.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $239.07 and a 200 day moving average of $225.07. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $156.72 and a fifty-two week high of $248.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The business had revenue of $3.75 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.74 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th were given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,890,528.07. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $227.37 per share, for a total transaction of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly 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. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $232.00 to $243.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Citigroup raised their target price on Ecolab from $257.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, July 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Raymond James boosted their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $244.06.

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.