Rep. Jefferson Shreve Purchases Shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL)

Representative Jefferson Shreve (R-Indiana) recently bought shares of Ecolab Inc. NYSE: ECL. In a filing disclosed on May 08th, the Representative disclosed that they had bought between $100,001 and $250,000 in Ecolab stock on April 7th. The trade occurred in the Representative's "CRT - STANDARD UNIT TRUST" account.

Representative Jefferson Shreve also recently made the following trade(s):

• Purchased $50,001 - $100,000 in shares of Chipotle Mexican Grill NYSE: CMG on 4/17/2025.
• Purchased $50,001 - $100,000 in shares of Applied Materials NASDAQ: AMAT on 4/17/2025.
• Purchased $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Caterpillar NYSE: CAT on 4/17/2025.
• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Lululemon Athletica NASDAQ: LULU on 4/17/2025.
• Purchased $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Western Digital NASDAQ: WDC on 4/17/2025.
• Sold $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Zoetis NYSE: ZTS on 4/17/2025.
• Purchased $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Stryker NYSE: SYK on 4/17/2025.
• Purchased $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of NextEra Energy NYSE: NEE on 4/17/2025.
• Purchased $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of CSX NASDAQ: CSX on 4/17/2025.
• Purchased $15,001 - $50,000 in shares of Ross Stores NASDAQ: ROST on 4/17/2025.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL traded up $4.47 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $254.62. The stock had a trading volume of 141,583 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,157,017. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $220.96 and a fifty-two week high of $273.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $72.22 billion, a PE ratio of 34.50, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.05. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $246.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $247.59.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.50% and a net margin of 13.42%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.71 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. Ecolab's quarterly revenue was down 1.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 17th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is currently 35.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth $1,262,000. Corundum Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 47.9% during the 4th quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 7,548 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,769,000 after purchasing an additional 2,444 shares in the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $246,000. Eastern Bank grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 165,460 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $38,771,000 after buying an additional 2,853 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,069 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $1,656,000 after buying an additional 1,303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $302.00 to $285.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Argus raised Ecolab to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $275.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $282.47.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $251.75 per share, for a total transaction of $125,875.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 19,465 shares in the company, valued at $4,900,313.75. This trade represents a 2.64% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Larry L. Berger sold 10,858 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $266.95, for a total transaction of $2,898,543.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 15,744 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,202,860.80. The trade was a 40.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

About Representative Shreve

Jefferson Shreve (Republican Party) is a member of the U.S. House, representing Indiana's 6th Congressional District. He assumed office on January 3, 2025. His current term ends on January 3, 2027. Shreve (Republican Party) is running for re-election to the U.S. House to represent Indiana's 6th Congressional District. He declared candidacy for the 2026 election. Email editor@ballotpedia.org to notify us of updates to this biography. Jefferson Shreve earned a bachelor's degree from Indiana University in 1989, a graduate degree from the University of London in 1998, and a graduate degree from Purdue University in 2003. Shreve's career experience includes working as a real estate executive. Shreve was elected 7th District Vice Chairman of the Indiana Republican State Committee on January 17, 2018, and was re-elected on March 6, 2021. In 2020, he was selected as a district-level delegate to the 2020 Republican National Convention.

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.