Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Free Report) by 3.5% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,015 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 144 shares during the period. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,082,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,876,000 after purchasing 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% in the 1st quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,551,000 after purchasing an additional 3,428 shares in the last quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth about $284,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1,189.2% in the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 144,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,606,000 after purchasing an additional 133,192 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.29.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Ecolab Price Performance
NYSE ECL opened at $271.80 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $274.05 and a 200-day moving average price of $263.04.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations 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. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.
Ecolab Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued 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 currently 34.71%.
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.
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