Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Buys New Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 1,191 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $302,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $89,000. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 5.0% in the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 902 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $229,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 12.1% during the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 32,335 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $8,198,000 after buying an additional 3,489 shares during the last quarter. TT International Asset Management LTD bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $836,000. Finally, Echo Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Echo Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $427,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on ECL. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Mizuho reduced their target price on Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $283.13.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade 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 through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $0.25 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $266.59. 457,712 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,162,886. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $256.34 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $250.85. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The company has a market cap of $75.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.17, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.32.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.50. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.41% and a return on equity of 22.53%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

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.