Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired 21,549 shares of Ecolab Inc., valued at approximately $5.46 million, signaling new institutional interest in the company.
• Several hedge funds significantly increased their positions, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its stake by 27,182.2%, now owning over 1.8 million shares worth $459.68 million.
• Ecolab recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.96%, with a payout ratio of 35.33%.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 21,549 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $5,463,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 27,182.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 27,677.8% in the first quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $253,520,000 after buying an additional 996,400 shares during the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 98.6% during the fourth quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC now owns 1,427,083 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $334,394,000 after buying an additional 708,432 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 79.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $319,641,000 after buying an additional 558,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Ecolab by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $733,201,000 after acquiring an additional 514,944 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Citigroup upped 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. Mizuho raised their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $288.33.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.6%

ECL stock opened at $270.09 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.32 and a quick ratio of 0.98. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $220.96 and a 1-year high of $274.17. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $266.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $256.02. The company has a market capitalization of $76.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.70, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

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.

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