Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. Has $3.05 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,960 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 375 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up approximately 0.9% of Brown Lisle Cummings Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,054,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank grew its holdings in Ecolab by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 2,840 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Leverty Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Leverty Financial Group LLC now owns 8,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,226,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 42.1% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 17,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,319,446.47. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.7 %

ECL opened at $261.46 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $156.72 and a 12 month high of $262.61. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $250.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $239.91.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $270.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $251.00 to $272.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $271.80.

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.