Synovus Financial Corp Sells 1,698 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Synovus Financial Corp lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,473 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,698 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,695,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. NBC Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the third quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 1,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 15,429 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,940,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,391 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Bangor Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bangor Savings Bank now owns 292 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Leverty Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Leverty Financial Group LLC now owns 8,718 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,226,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $250.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $70.85 billion, a PE ratio of 35.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.97, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $250.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $245.95. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $193.46 and a 52 week high of $262.61.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.82 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.12% and a net margin of 13.05%. The company had revenue of $4 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.54 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.57. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 36.47%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, major shareholder William H. Gates III sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $248.06, for a total value of $24,806,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,718,741 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,372,030,892.46. This trade represents a 0.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 834,566 shares of company stock valued at $205,225,417. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Ecolab from $240.00 to $263.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $306.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $235.00 to $310.00 in a report on Friday, October 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $228.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $279.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $279.87.

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.