Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 59.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,334 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 20,705 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $14,909,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 65.4% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 1,675 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $543,000 after buying an additional 196 shares during the period. Elk River Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,905,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, CMC Financial Group purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $284,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. UBS Group boosted their price objective 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. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 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 purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.0%

NYSE:ECL opened at $276.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $78.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.17. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 34.71%.

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.