Strs Ohio Purchases Shares of 71,349 Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Strs Ohio has acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. by purchasing 71,349 shares valued at approximately $18.08 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly increased their stakes in Ecolab, with GAMMA Investing LLC raising its stake by an astonishing 27,182.2%.
• Ecolab announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, set to be paid on October 15th, reflecting a 1.0% yield.

Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 71,349 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $18,088,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $337,563,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,677.8% during the first quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $253,520,000 after buying an additional 996,400 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 79.6% during the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $319,641,000 after buying an additional 558,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $78,218,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL traded up $0.14 during trading on Thursday, reaching $265.50. 596,446 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,295,930. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $75.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.07. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04. The company has a 50-day moving average of $272.38 and a 200-day moving average of $261.39.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Citigroup cut their target price on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.00.

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.