Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund Acquires 200 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,830 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,882,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,556 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,497,000 after acquiring an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its position in Ecolab by 13.3% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 2,174 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $586,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in Ecolab by 26.0% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 78,675 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,448,000 after purchasing an additional 16,224 shares in the last quarter. Index Fund Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $456,000. Finally, Clarendon Private LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $381,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer raised shares of 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 stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.29.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the sale, the director owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.7%

Ecolab stock opened at $270.16 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $274.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $263.26. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $76.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results 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 during 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. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.