OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Trims Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp reduced its stake in Ecolab by 14.2% in Q1, selling 1,525 shares and now holds 9,201 shares valued at approximately $2.33 million.
• Ecolab recently reported $1.89 earnings per share, slightly missing analysts' expectations, and set its Q3 2025 EPS guidance between 2.020 and 2.120.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65, with an annualized basis of $2.60, reflecting a dividend yield of 0.9% and a payout ratio of 34.71%.

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 14.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 9,201 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,525 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp's holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,333,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $10,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,651 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 32.4% during the 1st quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,005 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $3,551,000 after purchasing an additional 3,428 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,414,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the period. Mirabaud & Cie SA boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,092 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 120,176 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,467,000 after purchasing an additional 19,431 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 4,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL traded up $1.20 on Thursday, reaching $274.43. The company had a trading volume of 379,311 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,295,099. 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 $77.84 billion, a PE ratio of 36.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $272.21 and a 200-day moving average price of $261.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share 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 analysts' expectations 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, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Ecolab's payout ratio is 34.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ECL. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target 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. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $291.21.

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.