Aigen Investment Management LP Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• Aigen Investment Management LP has acquired 13,473 shares of Ecolab Inc., worth approximately $3.4 million, making it the firm's 25th largest holding.
• Ecolab's quarterly earnings showed a slight miss on earnings per share at $1.89, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90, while revenue met expectations at $4.03 billion.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 1.0%, with a payout ratio of 34.71%.

Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,473 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $3,416,000. Ecolab comprises 0.6% of Aigen Investment Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,752 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 4,019 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $942,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 22,584 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,293,000 after purchasing an additional 2,234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.3% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 9,309 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,181,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.1%

NYSE:ECL opened at $272.83 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.06. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $274.17. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $267.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $257.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. Equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 34.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised Ecolab from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $290.71.

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.

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