Czech National Bank Has $16.62 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Czech National Bank has increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 6.6%, owning 61,677 shares valued at approximately $16.6 million.
• Ecolab reported earnings per share of $1.89 for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations, and set guidance for Q3 2025 between 2.020 and 2.120 EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with a payout ratio of 34.71%, to be paid on October 15th.

Czech National Bank grew its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,677 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 3,794 shares during the period. Czech National Bank's holdings in Ecolab were worth $16,618,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 27,182.2% during the first 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 period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $337,563,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in Ecolab by 27,677.8% in the first quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $253,520,000 after purchasing an additional 996,400 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 79.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $319,641,000 after purchasing an additional 558,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $78,218,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $0.80 during trading on Friday, reaching $265.63. The company had a trading volume of 2,441,158 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,223,678. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.34 billion, a PE ratio of 35.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $272.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $261.28. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $286.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Company 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.