Ecolab Inc. $ECL Stock Holdings Decreased by Strs Ohio

Strs Ohio lessened its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 35.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 58,821 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 32,570 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $16,109,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at $216,000. FWG Holdings LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 4.8% during the third quarter. FWG Holdings LLC now owns 2,704 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $696,000 after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. CNB Bank lifted its stake in Ecolab by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter. CNB Bank now owns 3,320 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $909,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares in the last quarter. Bailard Inc. boosted its position in Ecolab by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 11,245 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,080,000 after acquiring an additional 1,114 shares during the period. Finally, Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC now owns 832 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $228,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $315.00 to $324.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $291.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $296.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $281.92 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $267.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $269.42. The firm has a market cap of $79.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.07. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The company had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were given a $0.73 dividend. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 16th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 41.95%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total transaction of $381,451.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,999.50. The trade was a 19.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This represents a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.