Ecolab Inc. $ECL Holdings Lifted by Eastern Bank

Eastern Bank boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 191,772 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 474 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $51,671,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 6.6% during the first quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,876,000 after buying an additional 2,651 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 32.4% during the first quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,551,000 after buying an additional 3,428 shares in the last quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the first quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at $284,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its stake in Ecolab by 1,189.2% during the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 144,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,606,000 after buying an additional 133,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.3%

NYSE:ECL opened at $271.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $274.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $262.97.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Monday. Finally, Baird R W raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab 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.