Veriti Management LLC Cuts Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Posted by Defense World Staff on Apr 2nd, 2023

Veriti Management LLC cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) by 19.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,983 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 701 shares during the period. Veriti Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $434,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 135.6% during the fourth quarter. Ronald Blue Trust Inc. now owns 245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Almanack Investment Partners LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1,406.3% during the second quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 241 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 39.8% during the third quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 267 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ecolab from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Friday, December 9th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Ecolab from $158.00 to $163.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 12th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Ecolab from $164.00 to $166.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Ecolab from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $155.00 to $185.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $168.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 15th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $173.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 4,404 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.95, for a total transaction of $717,631.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 12,442 shares in the company, valued at $2,027,423.90. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $165.53 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $157.28 and its 200 day moving average is $151.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.30 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 0.98. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $131.04 and a 1 year high of $185.50.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 14th. The basic materials company reported $1.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.25 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.69 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.02% and a net margin of 7.69%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 4.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 17th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.53 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 20th. This represents a $2.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.28%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 55.50%.

About Ecolab

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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.