Capital Management Associates Inc Invests $301,000 in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Capital Management Associates Inc acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,188 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ECL. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 134.8% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 108 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Accredited Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average price 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 represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock traded down $0.90 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $270.89. 251,004 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,176,769. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $262.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $252.50. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $274.60. The stock has a market cap of $76.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 1.03. 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 (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.53% and a net margin of 13.41%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 35.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $286.47.

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.