Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. Acquires Shares of 1,005 Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. has acquired 1,005 shares of Ecolab Inc. valued at approximately $271,000 in the second quarter of the year.
• Multiple hedge funds increased their stakes in Ecolab, highlighting significant interest from institutional investors, who now own 74.91% of the company's stock.
• Ecolab recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with an annualized yield of 0.9%, and a payout ratio of 34.71%.

Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,005 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $271,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aspiriant LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 17.9% during the 2nd quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 1,791 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $483,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.5% during the second quarter. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,574 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,232,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $162,000. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% during the second quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC now owns 381,703 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $102,846,000 after acquiring an additional 1,434 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Private Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Ecolab by 9.6% in the second quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 6,772 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,825,000 after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on ECL. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Mizuho upped their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $290.92.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 20,253 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $276.37 on Monday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $274.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.83. The stock has a market cap of $78.38 billion, a PE ratio of 36.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44.

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 company had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.71%.

Ecolab Company 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.

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