Quadcap Wealth Management LLC Purchases New Shares in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Quadcap Wealth Management LLC has acquired 1,890 shares of Ecolab Inc., valued at approximately $479,000, highlighting increased institutional interest in the company's stock.
• Ecolab received multiple upgrades from analysts recently, with Baird R W raising their rating to strong-buy and increasing the price target to $300.00.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, scheduled for payment on October 15th, indicating a 0.9% yield based on the current stock price.

Quadcap Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,890 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $479,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.1% in the 1st 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 lifted its holdings 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 valued at $1,036,485,000 after purchasing an additional 93,409 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,549,610 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $831,744,000 after purchasing an additional 200,612 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after acquiring an additional 514,944 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,718,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $689,154,000 after acquiring an additional 173,298 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho increased their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $291.21.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL traded down $1.82 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $277.20. 925,307 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,081,829. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.06. 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 Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $286.04. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $271.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $260.80.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. Analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid 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 yield of 0.9%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.71%.

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.