CW Advisors LLC Grows Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• CW Advisors LLC has increased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. by 3.3%, owning 107,626 shares valued at approximately $27.29 million, following an acquisition of 3,473 shares in Q1.
• Ecolab reported a quarterly EPS of $1.89, slightly missing analysts' estimates of $1.90, and had revenue of $4.03 billion during the same period.
• The company recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.9% and a payout ratio of 34.71%.

CW Advisors LLC raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 3.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 107,626 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,473 shares during the quarter. CW Advisors LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $27,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $6,188,736,000 after buying an additional 261,489 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Ecolab by 2.3% in 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake 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 worth $831,744,000 after acquiring an additional 200,612 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake 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 worth $733,201,000 after acquiring an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Baird R W raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $291.21.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded up $0.5990 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $283.6590. The company had a trading volume of 1,149,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,193,302. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $269.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $259.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $80.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.87, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.06.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted 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). The company had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. 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 forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given 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 currently 34.71%.

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.