Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Acquired by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 451,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 11,965 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $104,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $365,420,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 19,062.1% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 555,893 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $110,261,000 after buying an additional 552,992 shares during the period. Findlay Park Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth approximately $91,178,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,182,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,598,240,000 after buying an additional 305,039 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1,133.0% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 252,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $58,368,000 after buying an additional 232,282 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded up $1.83 on Wednesday, hitting $230.69. The company had a trading volume of 1,802,991 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,156,679. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $239.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $226.51. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $156.72 and a 1-year high of $249.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $65.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The basic materials company reported $1.68 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.67 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 20.56% and a net margin of 10.01%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.58 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 18th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 18th. This represents a $2.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Arthur J. Higgins sold 4,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $227.52, for a total value of $1,023,840.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,812,680.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 650 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $227.37 per share, with a total value of $147,790.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 17,111 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,890,528.07. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on ECL. Raymond James boosted their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Mizuho raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $216.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. They set an “overweight” rating and a $260.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Ecolab from $243.00 to $267.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $267.00 to $265.00 in a report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $249.13.

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.