Ecolab Inc. $ECL Holdings Trimmed by Texas Permanent School Fund Corp

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 35.3% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 17,716 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 9,658 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,773,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $847,544,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in Ecolab by 119.7% during the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,036,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $548,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,585 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 115.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 727,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $193,753,000 after buying an additional 389,981 shares in the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 43.2% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 834,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $211,450,000 after buying an additional 251,730 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 1.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,662,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,644,987,000 after buying an additional 250,980 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price objective on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.14.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $257.60 per share, with a total value of $193,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 23,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,933,816. The trade was a 3.37% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total value of $381,451.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. This represents a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE:ECL opened at $262.24 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $265.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $268.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.68, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.07. The company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.57 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.95%.

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.