Natural Investments LLC Raises Holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Key Points

• Natural Investments LLC increased its stock position in Ecolab Inc. by 27.5%, holding 12,503 shares valued at approximately $3.17 million, making it the firm's 24th largest position.
• Several institutional investors, including Dunhill Financial LLC and Ridgewood Investments LLC, have also made significant changes to their positions in Ecolab during the first quarter.
• Ecolab reported a miss on earnings for the quarter with an EPS of $1.89 compared to the consensus estimate of $1.90, alongside a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share with a yield of 1.0%.

Natural Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 27.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,503 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,698 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up about 0.9% of Natural Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Natural Investments LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,169,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,182.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $459,676,000 after acquiring an additional 1,806,529 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in Ecolab by 27,677.8% in the 1st quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $253,520,000 after purchasing an additional 996,400 shares in the last quarter. Winslow Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 98.6% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 558,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after acquiring an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.1%

ECL stock traded up $3.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $272.83. 833,178 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,143,075. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $274.17. The company has a market capitalization of $77.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $267.07 and a 200 day simple moving average of $257.29.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ECL. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group upgraded Ecolab from an "underperform" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays dropped their target price 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. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $290.71.

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.