Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Trims Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 18.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 159,055 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 35,273 shares during the quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Ecolab were worth $42,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Ecolab by 202.6% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 81.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.9%

NYSE:ECL opened at $261.14 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $268.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.70. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.95%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $257.60 per share, for a total transaction of $193,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 23,035 shares in the company, valued at $5,933,816. This represents a 3.37% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This represents a 23.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Mizuho set a $315.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.14.

About Ecolab

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.