Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,470 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 413 shares during the quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $4,977,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Ecolab by 202.6% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth about $38,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Erste Group Bank started coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $290.92.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.3%

ECL opened at $280.31 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04. The company has a market cap of $79.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.43, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. 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 business’s 50-day simple moving average is $274.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $264.13.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released 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). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. 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, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.