Northeast Investment Management Grows Stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Northeast Investment Management boosted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,746 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Northeast Investment Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,149,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,658,768,000 after buying an additional 105,289 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,273,277 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,231,873,000 after buying an additional 91,475 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in Ecolab by 8.2% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,995,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $936,300,000 after buying an additional 304,478 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $831,744,000 after purchasing an additional 200,612 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $733,201,000 after purchasing an additional 514,944 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.2%

NYSE:ECL opened at $269.44 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.26. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $220.96 and a one year high of $273.69. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $250.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $249.72. The stock has a market cap of $76.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.71 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ECL. Wall Street Zen raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Barclays lowered their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Argus raised Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Ecolab from $305.00 to $275.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Ecolab from $277.00 to $273.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $283.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $251.75 per share, with a total value of $125,875.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 19,465 shares of the company’s stock, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.