Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Purchases Shares of 11,643 Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 11,643 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,244,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $27,000. Kemnay Advisory Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth $28,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird set a $305.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $327.56.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, EVP Benjamin M. Clark purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $263.83 per share, with a total value of $263,830.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the executive vice president owned 1,083 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $285,727.89. This represents a 1,204.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Darrell R. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.89, for a total value of $2,608,900.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 32,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,539,712.37. This trade represents a 23.40% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 28,866 shares of company stock valued at $7,878,801 in the last 90 days. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $281.91 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.15 and a 52 week high of $309.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $79.03 billion, a PE ratio of 37.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $276.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $273.73.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 22.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.