Cerity Partners LLC Buys 17,792 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 247,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,792 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $66,618,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Ecolab by 202.6% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 81.5% during the second 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 bought a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $259.62 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $268.12 and a 200-day moving average price of $269.13. The company has a market cap of $73.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.98. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.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 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. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 37.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This represents a 23.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total transaction of $381,451.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,726 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,999.50. The trade was a 19.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price objective on Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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, October 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.