Victory Capital Management Inc. Has $19.21 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) by 2.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113,438 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,567 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $19,212,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Rational Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 133.3% during the 4th quarter. Rational Advisors LLC now owns 105 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. US Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $166.82 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.44, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50-day moving average of $159.06 and a 200-day moving average of $170.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.29 and a quick ratio of 0.84. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $143.82 and a fifty-two week high of $238.93.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 26th. The basic materials company reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.07 by $0.03. Ecolab had a return on equity of 18.56% and a net margin of 8.17%. The company had revenue of $3.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.48 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.22 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 4.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 20th will be paid a $0.51 dividend. This represents a $2.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.22%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 53.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Ecolab from $225.00 to $190.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 14th. Argus cut their price target on Ecolab from $230.00 to $200.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Ecolab from $200.00 to $181.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, June 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Ecolab from $195.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 27th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the company from $193.00 to $183.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 13th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $194.12.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Michael C. Mccormick sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.72, for a total value of $503,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,060 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,396,063.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, EVP Michael C. Mccormick sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $167.72, for a total transaction of $503,160.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 50,060 shares in the company, valued at $8,396,063.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $166.74, for a total transaction of $533,568.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 22,530 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,756,652.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Profile

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Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Global Industrial, Global Institutional & Specialty, and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences segments. 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.