1,331,505 Shares in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Bought by Nuveen LLC

Key Points

• Nuveen LLC acquired 1,331,505 shares of Ecolab Inc. valued at approximately $337.6 million, representing a 0.47% ownership stake as of the latest filing.
• Ecolab's stock has received upgrades from several analysts recently, with UBS raising its rating to "buy" and Mizuho increasing its price target from $285 to $305.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.0%, set to be paid on October 15th to shareholders of record.

Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 1,331,505 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $337,563,000. Nuveen LLC owned 0.47% of Ecolab at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in Ecolab by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,449 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the period. Belpointe Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 2,980 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 5.0% during the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 902 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% in the first quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $525,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 1.8% during the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $703,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird upgraded Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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, Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $291.21.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL traded down $1.74 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $280.09. 1,161,455 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,312,667. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $281.96. The company has a fifty day moving average of $267.89 and a 200 day moving average of $258.23. The stock has a market cap of $79.44 billion, a PE ratio of 37.39, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

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.