SouthState Corp Decreases Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

SouthState Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,508 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 340 shares during the period. SouthState Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,754,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Ecolab by 202.6% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 70.6% during the first 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 period. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions 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 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 in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $252.60 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $270.62 and a 200 day moving average of $266.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.07. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The company’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.57 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.14.

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.