Advisory Alpha LLC Purchases 1,494 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Advisory Alpha LLC lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 112.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,494 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $759,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 8.7% during the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 34,629 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $8,640,000 after purchasing an additional 2,780 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 152.4% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 62,451 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,879,000 after purchasing an additional 37,712 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.5% during the first quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 53,924 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,671,000 after purchasing an additional 810 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.0% during the first quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 192,111 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $48,704,000 after purchasing an additional 1,928 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 4.0%

ECL opened at $268.42 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $274.06 and a 200-day moving average of $265.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.Ecolab’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.57 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ECL. UBS Group increased their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Mizuho increased their price objective on 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 Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $291.69.

About Ecolab

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.