Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Bought by Synovus Financial Corp

Key Points

• Synovus Financial Corp increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 12.1% during Q1, now holding 15,812 shares valued at approximately $4 million.
• Several institutional investors, including APG Asset Management and AlphaQuest LLC, significantly raised their stakes in Ecolab, demonstrating growing institutional confidence in the company.
• Ecolab recently announced a dividend of $0.65 per share, with a payout ratio of 34.71%, signaling a commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Synovus Financial Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 12.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,812 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,711 shares during the quarter. Synovus Financial Corp's holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth about $1,326,000. APG Asset Management N.V. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 68.2% in the first quarter. APG Asset Management N.V. now owns 418,491 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $98,219,000 after acquiring an additional 169,724 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,138 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,033,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors grew its stake in Ecolab by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Phoenix Wealth Advisors now owns 1,862 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $472,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 83.4% during the 1st quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 10,255 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,600,000 after purchasing an additional 4,663 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% 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 insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. 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. Citigroup lowered 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. Baird R W raised Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the company from $273.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $291.21.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $283.6590 on Monday. 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 price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $269.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $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 quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

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.

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