Securian Asset Management Inc. Sells 165 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Securian Asset Management Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 165 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,549,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Ecolab by 202.6% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 70.6% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $278.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $78.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.13, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $274.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $264.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

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 company had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Erste Group Bank started coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, September 5th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $290.92.

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.