ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Invests $41.97 Million in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. has acquired 165,545 shares of Ecolab Inc., valued at approximately $41.97 million, during the first quarter, representing about 0.06% of the company.
• Ecolab recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend of $2.60 and a yield of 1.0%.
• Following recent performance, several analysts have revised their price targets on Ecolab, with a consensus target price now set at $290.71, and the stock rated as a "Buy" by the majority of analysts.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 165,545 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $41,967,000. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. owned approximately 0.06% of Ecolab as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 164.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,752 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 29.9% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 361,663 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $84,745,000 after purchasing an additional 83,279 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,993,504 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $701,438,000 after purchasing an additional 165,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 68.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 127,076 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,776,000 after purchasing an additional 51,488 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL traded up $3.06 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $272.83. 833,178 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,143,075. The stock's fifty day moving average is $267.07 and its 200 day moving average is $257.29. The stock has a market cap of $77.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $274.17.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $273.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $290.71.

Ecolab 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.