Ledyard National Bank Buys 54 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Ledyard National Bank raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,205 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $325,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 164.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 152.4% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 62,451 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,879,000 after purchasing an additional 37,712 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 677 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $172,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $227,000. Finally, Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $482,000 after buying an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $256.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $272.97 and a 200 day simple moving average of $266.08. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.38.

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.