Genus Capital Management Inc. Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Genus Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 4,905 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $1,244,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $521,399,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,182.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806,529 shares in the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 98.6% during the 4th quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $334,394,000 after acquiring an additional 708,432 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 79.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $319,641,000 after acquiring an additional 558,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Ecolab by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $733,201,000 after buying an additional 514,944 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL traded up $0.30 during trading on Friday, reaching $267.09. 966,348 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,180,551. The business's 50 day moving average price is $263.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $252.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a market capitalization of $75.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.03. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $274.17.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. Ecolab's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 35.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic lowered Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $287.00.

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.