TT International Asset Management LTD Buys Shares of 3,298 Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

TT International Asset Management LTD purchased a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,298 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $836,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Echo Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 17.4% in the first quarter. Echo Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,686 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $427,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.8% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $703,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 2.1% in the first quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,598 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 54 shares during the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Ecolab by 23.3% in the first quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 2,501 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.4% during the first quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,784 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $706,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Ecolab stock traded up $0.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $261.02. 2,397,152 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,165,475. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $220.96 and a 1 year high of $273.69. The stock's fifty day moving average is $255.22 and its 200 day moving average is $250.62. The firm has a market cap of $74.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.71 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. Ecolab's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 35.33%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Redburn Atlantic cut Ecolab from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $270.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, February 24th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $283.13.

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.