Hilltop National Bank Makes New $228,000 Investment in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Hilltop National Bank 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 & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 846 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $228,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% during the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $276.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s fifty day moving average is $272.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $262.12. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on ECL shares. Citigroup cut their price target on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.00.

Ecolab 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.