D.A. Davidson & CO. Buys 2,032 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 212,011 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,032 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO. owned 0.08% of Ecolab worth $56,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ECL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 63.1% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,622,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,788,497,000 after buying an additional 4,110,472 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,022,334,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $880,506,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in Ecolab by 26,152.0% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 945,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,810,000 after acquiring an additional 941,472 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 104.7% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,591,274 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $417,747,000 after acquiring an additional 813,996 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Michel D. Doukeris purchased 7,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $258.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,999,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 8,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,148,108. The trade was a 1,345.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $250.65 per share, for a total transaction of $250,650.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 25,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,323,899.50. This represents a 4.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 10,550 shares of company stock valued at $2,719,508. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $270.03 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $264.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.96. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.15 and a twelve month high of $309.27. The company has a market cap of $76.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.89.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70. The business had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.64% and a net margin of 12.80%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.51%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $293.00 to $325.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 10th. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $296.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $337.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Ecolab from $352.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.29.

Ecolab 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.