Baird Financial Group Inc. Acquires 80,640 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 40% during the first quarter, owning 282,423 shares valued at approximately $71.6 million.
• Despite recent stock sales from insiders, institutional investors hold 74.91% of Ecolab’s shares, indicating strong institutional confidence in the company.
• Ecolab has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with an ex-dividend date set for September 16, reflecting a 0.9% yield for shareholders.

Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 40.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 282,423 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 80,640 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Ecolab worth $71,600,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the period. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group boosted 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. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Baird R W raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $291.64.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Suzanne M. 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.5%

NYSE:ECL traded down $1.33 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $273.62. 468,594 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,297,208. The firm has a market cap of $77.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.07. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month 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. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $272.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $261.11.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The company had revenue of $4.03 billion for 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. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 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.