Whittier Trust Co. Has $16.96 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Whittier Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 66,417 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,293 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $16,958,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,486,858 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,423,116,000 after acquiring an additional 304,402 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Ecolab by 5.0% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,558,198 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $608,851,000 after buying an additional 122,715 shares in the last quarter. Mirova US LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the second quarter. Mirova US LLC now owns 1,975,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $470,149,000 after acquiring an additional 43,553 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth $390,687,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 1.8% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,379 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $326,626,000 after acquiring an additional 24,648 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total value of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares in the company, valued at $2,014,586.40. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $240.41 per share, with a total value of $156,266.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,319,446.47. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $271.80.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded down $2.31 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $259.15. The stock had a trading volume of 496,036 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,085,636. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $262.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.50 and a quick ratio of 1.10. The business's fifty day moving average is $250.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $240.15. The company has a market cap of $74.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.99, a PEG ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th were paid a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

About Ecolab

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.