Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Acquires 6,012 Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 12.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 53,729 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 6,012 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,788,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $365,420,000. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $390,687,000. Findlay Park Partners LLP bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $91,178,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 23,182,456 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,598,240,000 after buying an additional 305,039 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1,133.0% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 252,783 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $58,368,000 after purchasing an additional 232,282 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $253.18 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $241.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $232.44. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $156.72 and a 12-month high of $253.54. The company has a current ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.91. The company has a market cap of $72.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.89, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.11.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted 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. Ecolab had a net margin of 10.95% and a return on equity of 21.65%. The business had revenue of $3.99 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. Ecolab’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.63 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 17th will be given a $0.57 dividend. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 17th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $233.00 to $283.00 in a report on Monday, July 8th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $251.00 to $272.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, August 21st. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Ecolab to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $225.00 to $228.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $250.00.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ecolab news, EVP Gregory B. Cook sold 3,811 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $249.33, for a total transaction of $950,196.63. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,014,586.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $240.41 per share, for a total transaction of $156,266.50. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 17,967 shares in the company, valued at $4,319,446.47. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 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.