KFG Wealth Management LLC Sells 125 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

KFG Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 12.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 910 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 125 shares during the quarter. KFG Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,156 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $505,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 859 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $201,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 1,217 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,980 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $755,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SRS Capital Advisors Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. SRS Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 4,317 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,012,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.1%

ECL opened at $267.29 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $220.96 and a one year high of $273.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $249.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $249.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $75.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.22, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 35.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $257.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target 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. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $270.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Five 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $283.13.

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.