Ecolab Inc. $ECL Stake Raised by Huntington National Bank

Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 108,125 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 989 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $29,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth about $337,563,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 119.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,036,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $548,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,585 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 27,677.8% during the 1st quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $253,520,000 after purchasing an additional 996,400 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 79.6% during the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $319,641,000 after purchasing an additional 558,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 199.6% during the 1st quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 434,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $110,179,000 after purchasing an additional 289,556 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Baird R W raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.14.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $257.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market cap of $73.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $272.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $266.75. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. The business had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.57 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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.