Whittier Trust Co. Raises Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Whittier Trust Co. increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 85,256 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,092 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $23,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,662,213 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,644,987,000 after acquiring an additional 250,980 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,479,529 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,469,019,000 after purchasing an additional 22,986 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $847,544,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its stake in Ecolab by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,610,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $703,452,000 after buying an additional 90,005 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 9.0% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,497,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $674,497,000 after buying an additional 205,634 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Mizuho set a $315.00 target price on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $291.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Ecolab from $270.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Erste Group Bank lowered Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $296.00.

Insider Activity

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

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $281.92 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $286.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.51, a P/E/G ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $267.28 and its 200-day moving average is $269.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.33.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.57 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 16th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 41.95%.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.