Cigna Investments Inc. New Lowers Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Cigna Investments Inc. New decreased its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,461 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 42 shares during the period. Cigna Investments Inc. New’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $663,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2,166.7% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 272 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $64,000 after buying an additional 260 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth about $372,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 43.6% in the 4th quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 448 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $105,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 103,730 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $24,306,000 after acquiring an additional 9,858 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $267.02 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $272.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $261.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a market cap of $75.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.65, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders 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 is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.71%.

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.