Securian Asset Management Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 13,171 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,549,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 18,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,977,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Enterprises LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $208,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC now owns 1,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 5,964 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,607,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ECL. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Baird R W raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $290.92.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $278.09 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $286.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.23. The company has a market capitalization of $78.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.13, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted 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 the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

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.