Baird Financial Group Inc. Has $79.69 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 295,744 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,321 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of Ecolab worth $79,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $807,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $805,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management grew its holdings in Ecolab by 0.5% during the second quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 7,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,030,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the period. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.0%

ECL opened at $264.46 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $268.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $269.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.00, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.98.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion for 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.57 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.36%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total value of $381,451.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 5,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. The trade was a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total transaction of $5,676,256.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at $18,989,868.04. This represents a 23.01% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.