Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Increases Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 4.2% during Q2, bringing its total holdings to over $8 million.
• Analysts have recently upgraded Ecolab's rating, with Oppenheimer declaring it an "outperform" and BMO Capital raising the target price to $310.
• Ecolab announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, yielding approximately 0.9% and affecting its payout ratio, currently at 34.71%.

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 4.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 30,105 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 1,217 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.'s holdings in Ecolab were worth $8,111,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% during the second quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 7,534 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,030,000 after buying an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.8% during the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,449 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 5.0% during the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 902 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $229,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 2.0% during the first quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $290.92.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $280.31 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $264.13. The company has a market cap of $79.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. 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.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Ecolab 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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