Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 3,971 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its shareholding in Ecolab Inc. by 240.5%, owning a total of 5,622 shares worth approximately $1.5 million after acquiring an additional 3,971 shares during the second quarter.
• Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares at an average price of $278.51, while SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares at $279.28, indicating varied insider trading activity.
• Ecolab recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share to be paid on October 15th, with an annualized yield of 1.0% and a dividend payout ratio of 34.71%.

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 240.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,622 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,971 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,515,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,188,736,000 after purchasing an additional 261,489 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its position in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 1st 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 during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 145,902 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 27,619 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 173,298 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,253 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $264.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $75.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.07. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $272.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.36.

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 company had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup cut their price target on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Baird R W raised shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average 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.

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