WoodTrust Financial Corp Sells 250 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

WoodTrust Financial Corp reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,615 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Legacy Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 10.7% in the first quarter. Legacy Advisors LLC now owns 1,020 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $259,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Ecolab by 5.5% in the first quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 106,525 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $27,006,000 after purchasing an additional 5,524 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 20.1% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 5,278 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 0.7% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 76,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,491,000 after purchasing an additional 544 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XML Financial LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 8.7% in the first quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 2,585 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $655,000 after purchasing an additional 207 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.9%

Ecolab stock opened at $266.07 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The stock has a market cap of $75.47 billion, a PE ratio of 36.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $255.77 and its 200 day simple moving average is $250.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 35.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Seaport Res Ptn raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. The trade was a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.