Bath Savings Trust Co Has $19.66 Million Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Bath Savings Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 72,974 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 969 shares during the period. Ecolab makes up approximately 2.0% of Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Bath Savings Trust Co’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $19,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. City Holding Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $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 owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $265.50 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $75.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.07. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $272.38 and its 200-day moving average is $261.39. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 34.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ECL. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho raised their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Finally, Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.00.

Ecolab Company 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.