Park National Corp OH Has $5.01 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Park National Corp OH reduced its shareholding in Ecolab Inc. by 28.3% in Q2, now holding 18,601 shares valued at approximately $5 million.
• Ecolab recently reported earnings per share (EPS) of $1.89 for Q2, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90, while setting guidance for Q3 2025 EPS between 2.020-2.120.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, payable on October 15th, representing an annual dividend yield of 1.0%.

Park National Corp OH cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 28.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,601 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 7,324 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH's holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,012,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 1.1% during 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 in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Ecolab by 2.3% during 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 buying an additional 93,409 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 4.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,805,952 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $964,885,000 after buying an additional 145,902 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in Ecolab by 0.8% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,577,229 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $906,900,000 after buying an additional 27,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in Ecolab by 6.8% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,718,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $689,154,000 after buying an additional 173,298 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $383,398.64. Following the sale, the director directly 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. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.5%

Ecolab stock traded up $1.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $265.50. 1,338,913 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,300,207. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $272.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $261.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.45, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.07.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion for 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. Analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ECL. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.00.

About Ecolab

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.