OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Acquires 3,543 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 20.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,676 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,543 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 63.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,622,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,788,497,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110,472 shares during the period. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,022,334,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $880,506,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in Ecolab by 26,152.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 945,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,810,000 after purchasing an additional 941,472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 58.8% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,243,825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $596,902,000 after purchasing an additional 830,726 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $250.65 per share, for a total transaction of $250,650.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 25,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,323,899.50. This represents a 4.13% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.98, for a total value of $266,039.92. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,651 shares in the company, valued at $3,087,281.98. This trade represents a 7.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders bought a total of 10,550 shares of company stock valued at $2,719,508 over the last ninety days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $337.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.06.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $268.73 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $75.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $266.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $273.19. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.15 and a twelve month high of $309.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.70. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 22.64%. The business had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.51%.

About Ecolab

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.