Keybank National Association OH Decreases Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Keybank National Association OH decreased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 242 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $6,667,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.6% in the first quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,876,000 after acquiring an additional 2,651 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 32.4% in the first quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,551,000 after acquiring an additional 3,428 shares in the last quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the first quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,291,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $284,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1,189.2% in the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 144,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,606,000 after acquiring an additional 133,192 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% 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 Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $256.51 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $272.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.85, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. The business 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $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, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.36%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on ECL. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Barclays upped their price objective on Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $294.77.

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.