Hilltop National Bank Invests $228,000 in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Hilltop National Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 176.7% in the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 70.6% in the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. acquired a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $276.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $78.45 billion, a PE ratio of 36.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $272.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.12.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) 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 the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.03 billion during 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. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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 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 0.9%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.