Chilton Capital Management LLC Invests $51,000 in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 220 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $51,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 2,805.1% in the 4th quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 38,492 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $7,635,000 after purchasing an additional 37,167 shares during the period. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Carnegie Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 111,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $22,129,000 after acquiring an additional 2,051 shares during the period. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at $749,000. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 526.2% during the 4th quarter. Prio Wealth Limited Partnership now owns 56,959 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $11,298,000 after acquiring an additional 47,863 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 87,402 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,338,000 after acquiring an additional 9,695 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total transaction of $1,023,840.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 17,111 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.7 %

NYSE:ECL traded down $4.27 on Monday, hitting $241.85. The stock had a trading volume of 714,553 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,160,625. The business’s fifty day moving average is $237.16 and its 200 day moving average is $222.61. The company has a market cap of $69.07 billion, a PE ratio of 44.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $156.72 and a 52 week high of $246.51.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.75 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.74 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th will be given a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 18th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ecolab from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. UBS Group upped their target price on Ecolab from $270.00 to $282.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $244.06.

Ecolab 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.