Diversify Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL – Free Report) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 2,001 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $513,000.
Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $320.00 to $296.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $293.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $295.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $337.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.06.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Ecolab news, COO Darrell R. Brown sold 10,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.89, for a total transaction of $2,608,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,539,712.37. The trade was a 23.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $250.65 per share, with a total value of $250,650.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 25,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,323,899.50. This trade represents a 4.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders acquired 10,550 shares of company stock worth $2,719,508. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Ecolab Trading Down 1.0%
NYSE ECL opened at $272.91 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $264.97 and a 200-day moving average of $273.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.73. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.15 and a 12 month high of $309.27. The company has a market cap of $76.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.89.
Ecolab (NYSE:ECL – Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 22.64%. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.13 earnings per share for the current year.
Ecolab Dividend Announcement
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.51%.
Ecolab Company Profile
Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.
Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.
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