Okabena Investment Services Inc. Invests $2.51 Million in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Okabena Investment Services Inc. made a new investment in Ecolab Inc., purchasing 9,890 shares valued at approximately $2.51 million.
• Ecolab recently reported Q2 earnings of $1.89 per share, slightly missing the consensus estimate, while also setting Q3 2025 guidance of 2.020-2.120 EPS.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65, with an annualized yield of 0.9%, reflecting a dividend payout ratio of 34.71%.

Okabena Investment Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,890 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,507,000.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 27,182.2% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $337,563,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 27,677.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 996,400 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 79.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 558,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $79,980,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded down $2.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $274.60. 325,335 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,296,046. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $271.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $260.85. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $77.88 billion, a PE ratio of 36.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted 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 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, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.71%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup cut 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. 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 research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $291.21.

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.