Czech National Bank Grows Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Czech National Bank lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 5.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 57,883 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,241 shares during the period. Czech National Bank's holdings in Ecolab were worth $14,674,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $80,564,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its stake in Ecolab by 285.4% in the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 20,756 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,856,000 after buying an additional 15,371 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 11.0% in the 4th quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 7,951 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,868,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $564,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:ECL traded up $0.29 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $267.33. The company had a trading volume of 227,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,167,401. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $220.96 and a 52 week high of $273.69. The company has a market capitalization of $75.82 billion, a PE ratio of 36.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $249.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $249.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.26 and a quick ratio of 0.95.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.42% and a return on equity of 22.50%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ECL shares. Redburn Atlantic lowered shares of Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Seaport Res Ptn upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $283.13.

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.