Comerica Bank Sells 1,211 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Comerica Bank reduced its holdings in Ecolab Inc. by 1.7% during the first quarter, selling 1,211 shares and bringing its total to 70,415 shares valued at approximately $17.85 million.
• Insider transactions included SVP Jennifer J. Bradway selling 807 shares for about $225,378, reflecting a 15.72% decrease in her ownership.
• Ecolab recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with a yield of 0.9%, set to be paid on October 15th.

Comerica Bank lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 1.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 70,415 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,211 shares during the period. Comerica Bank's holdings in Ecolab were worth $17,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,188,736,000 after acquiring an additional 261,489 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,036,485,000 after acquiring an additional 93,409 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $831,744,000 after acquiring an additional 200,612 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after acquiring an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,718,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $689,154,000 after acquiring an additional 173,298 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL traded down $1.82 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $277.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 925,307 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,081,829. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.06. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $271.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $260.81. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44.

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 (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 during 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.71%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Mizuho increased their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $291.21.

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.