Cwm LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 75.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,932 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 9,842 shares during the quarter. Cwm LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,179,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth approximately $337,563,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 119.7% in the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,036,339 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $548,671,000 after buying an additional 1,109,585 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Ecolab by 27,677.8% in the 1st quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $253,520,000 after buying an additional 996,400 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $319,641,000 after buying an additional 558,947 shares during the period. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its holdings in Ecolab by 199.6% in the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 434,598 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $110,179,000 after buying an additional 289,556 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.
Ecolab Price Performance
Ecolab stock opened at $273.65 on Thursday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $274.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $263.40. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $286.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.09. 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 released its quarterly 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 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Ecolab Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.71%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Erste Group Bank started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.29.
View Our Latest Stock Report on Ecolab
Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab
In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm'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 transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
About Ecolab
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Free Report)
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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