Advisory Alpha LLC Has $759,000 Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 112.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,817 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,494 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $759,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth $337,563,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 119.7% in the second quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,036,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $548,671,000 after buying an additional 1,109,585 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 27,677.8% in the first quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $253,520,000 after buying an additional 996,400 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 79.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $319,641,000 after buying an additional 558,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 199.6% in the first quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 434,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $110,179,000 after buying an additional 289,556 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $268.42 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $274.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $265.99. The stock has a market cap of $76.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $286.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.07. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.57 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $291.69.

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.