Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 18,074 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 24.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 57,199 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 18,074 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $14,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $10,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,651 shares during the period. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 32.4% during the 1st quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,551,000 after purchasing an additional 3,428 shares during the period. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,414,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the period. Mirabaud & Cie SA boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 19.3% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 120,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,467,000 after purchasing an additional 19,431 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was 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 directly owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on ECL shares. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday. Mizuho raised their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $275.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $272.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04. The company has a market capitalization of $78.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

Ecolab 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.