Credit Agricole S A Raises Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

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Credit Agricole S A increased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 183,465 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,306 shares during the quarter. Credit Agricole S A owned 0.06% of Ecolab worth $46,512,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,182.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $459,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $337,563,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,677.8% during the 1st quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $253,520,000 after purchasing an additional 996,400 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 79.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $319,641,000 after purchasing an additional 558,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased 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 purchasing an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.5990 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $283.6590. The stock had a trading volume of 1,149,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,202,153. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $286.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.06. The firm's 50-day moving average is $269.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $259.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during 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. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $291.21.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.