Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) Director Sells $383,398.64 in Stock

Key Points

• Ecolab Director Suzanne Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company's stock for a total of $383,398.64, reducing her position by 10.79% to 11,199 shares.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend of $2.60 and a yield of 0.9%.
• Ecolab's stock price has seen significant movements, reaching a 52-week high of $285.11 and the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target price of $291.21.

Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) Director Suzanne 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 sale, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE ECL traded up $3.2880 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $283.3680. 1,000,149 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,311,217. The company has a 50 day moving average of $268.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $259.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $285.11. The firm has a market cap of $80.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.83, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.06.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued 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 return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.The company 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 Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 34.71%.

Institutional Trading of Ecolab

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,662,213 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,644,987,000 after acquiring an additional 250,980 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,479,529 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,469,019,000 after acquiring an additional 22,986 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,036,485,000 after acquiring an additional 93,409 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,805,952 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $964,885,000 after acquiring an additional 145,902 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,577,229 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $906,900,000 after acquiring an additional 27,619 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Mizuho upped their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird raised Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $291.21.

About Ecolab

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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