Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Purchases Shares of 10,306 Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,306 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,871,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 25.9% in the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 330,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $86,670,000 after acquiring an additional 68,062 shares in the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,870,000 after acquiring an additional 6,238 shares in the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 163,731 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $43,464,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 29.4% in the 4th quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 21,488 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,641,000 after purchasing an additional 4,886 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Danske Bank A S grew its position in Ecolab by 8.7% in the 4th quarter. Danske Bank A S now owns 251,977 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $66,149,000 after purchasing an additional 20,247 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $337.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.56.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, COO Darrell R. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.89, for a total value of $2,608,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,539,712.37. This represents a 23.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,004 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.98, for a total transaction of $266,039.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,087,281.98. This trade represents a 7.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $275.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $77.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 0.88. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $275.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $273.67. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.15 and a 12-month high of $309.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 12.57%.The business’s revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

About Ecolab

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.