Gradient Investments LLC Has $24 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,652 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,728 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $24,004,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $284,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its stake in Ecolab by 1,189.2% in the first quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 144,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,606,000 after acquiring an additional 133,192 shares during the period. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. acquired a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $29,956,000. Truist Financial Corp lifted its stake in Ecolab by 2.0% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 437,180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $117,794,000 after purchasing an additional 8,608 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 0.9% during the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 108,125 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,133,000 after purchasing an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $259.70 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $286.04. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $265.88 and its 200-day moving average is $268.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.31, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

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. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The business had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.57 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be given a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total transaction of $381,451.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,999.50. The trade was a 19.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $257.60 per share, with a total value of $193,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,035 shares in the company, valued at $5,933,816. This trade represents a 3.37% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Mizuho set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Three investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.14.

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.