Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by Penserra Capital Management LLC

Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 347.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,966 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,303 shares during the quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $751,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 18.4% in the 1st quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 4,513 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,144,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 18,404 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $4,666,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth $80,000. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Truist Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 428,572 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $108,652,000 after purchasing an additional 12,465 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.30 on Friday, hitting $267.09. The company had a trading volume of 966,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,180,551. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $220.96 and a twelve month high of $274.17. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $263.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $253.10. The firm has a market cap of $75.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.03.

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 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 firm had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. Ecolab's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Redburn Atlantic cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Ecolab from $271.00 to $288.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five investment 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $287.00.

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.