Natixis Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. by 4.1% during the first quarter, owning 397,670 shares valued at approximately $100.8 million.
• Several institutional investors have also adjusted their positions in Ecolab, with 74.91% of the company's stock owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Ecolab recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.99%, with a payout ratio of 35.33%.

Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 4.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 397,670 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 15,785 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned 0.14% of Ecolab worth $100,817,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 6.6% during the first quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,876,000 after acquiring an additional 2,651 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 32.4% during the first quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,005 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,551,000 after buying an additional 3,428 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,414,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 120,176 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $30,467,000 after purchasing an additional 19,431 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BLI Banque de Luxembourg Investments acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $3,257,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their target price on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Barclays cut their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. UBS Group raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $290.71.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock traded up $2.90 during trading on Monday, hitting $263.91. The stock had a trading volume of 259,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,324,788. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $274.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.24, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 1.06. The company's 50-day moving average price is $266.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $256.73.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This represents a 2.64% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.