Ecolab Inc. $ECL Holdings Raised by Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.

Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 14.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,193 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $860,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average price of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $276.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $78.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.93, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $286.04. 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 fifty day moving average price of $272.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $262.17.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given 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 payout ratio is currently 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.