First Western Trust Bank Acquires 1,878 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

First Western Trust Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 34,089 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,878 shares during the quarter. First Western Trust Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 135.6% in the 4th quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares during the period. Beacon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1,189.5% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Capital Management LLC now owns 245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Zions Bancorporation N.A. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 39.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 86.76% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. 92 Resources restated a “maintains” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday, May 4th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $163.00 to $177.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 3rd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $167.00 to $188.00 in a report on Thursday, May 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $155.00 to $185.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $178.20.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Gail Peterson sold 934 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $163,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 1,567 shares in the company, valued at $274,225. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 34,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $173.48, for a total transaction of $5,976,386.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 53,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,201,899.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Gail Peterson sold 934 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.00, for a total transaction of $163,450.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,567 shares in the company, valued at $274,225. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 43,886 shares of company stock worth $7,574,618. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $0.41 during trading on Friday, hitting $166.32. The stock had a trading volume of 317,537 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,096,030. The company has a market capitalization of $47.35 billion, a PE ratio of 41.29, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $166.76 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.02, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $131.04 and a 12 month high of $179.76.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 2nd. The basic materials company reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 7.96% and a return on equity of 18.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 20th will be given a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 16th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.27%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 52.48%.

Ecolab Profile

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Ecolab, Inc engages in the provision of products and services in the field of water, hygiene, and energy. It operates through the following segments: Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, Global Energy & Life Science, and Other. The Global Industrial segment consists of the water, food and beverage, paper, and downstream operating segments.