Carnegie Investment Counsel Buys 4,971 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Carnegie Investment Counsel lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,532 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,971 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for about 0.9% of Carnegie Investment Counsel’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest position. Carnegie Investment Counsel’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $30,118,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Coastline Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth $26,000. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in Ecolab by 62.0% during the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 149 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $40,000. Abound Wealth Management raised its position in Ecolab by 212.5% in the fourth quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Dedication LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2,188.9% during the third quarter. Asset Dedication LLC now owns 206 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 197 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 409,136 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $246.92, for a total value of $101,023,861.12. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,776,418 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,599,313,132.56. This trade represents a 1.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $239.04 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $67.69 billion, a PE ratio of 33.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.04 and a beta of 1.13. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $195.49 and a 52-week high of $262.61. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $242.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $245.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.30.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.82 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.05% and a return on equity of 22.12%. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 17th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.09%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.47%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday, October 18th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 25th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $277.47.

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.