BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC Decreases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC trimmed its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 25.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 157,018 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 54,167 shares during the quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SNC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $25,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 94.0% in the first quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 236 shares during the last quarter. Girard Partners LTD. raised its stake in Ecolab by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Girard Partners LTD. now owns 24,636 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,078,000 after acquiring an additional 389 shares during the period. Gardner Lewis Asset Management L P bought a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $1,302,000. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $177,000. Finally, TCTC Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $53,000. 73.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $181.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $51.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.20, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.01. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $131.04 and a fifty-two week high of $191.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $184.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $173.56.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The basic materials company reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21 by $0.03. Ecolab had a net margin of 7.96% and a return on equity of 18.33%. The business had revenue of $3.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.86 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.10 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 5.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 19th will be given a $0.53 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 18th. This represents a $2.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.17%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 51.58%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 2,400 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.33, for a total value of $435,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 23,975 shares in the company, valued at $4,347,386.75. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $183.73 per share, for a total transaction of $119,424.50. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 15,071 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,768,994.83. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 2,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.33, for a total transaction of $435,192.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,975 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,347,386.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 27,568 shares of company stock valued at $5,008,604. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ECL. StockNews.com cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Ecolab from $172.00 to $187.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Ecolab from $190.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $174.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. Finally, Northcoast Research lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $191.86.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.