D.A. Davidson & CO. Boosts Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

D.A. Davidson & CO. boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 125.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201,281 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 112,030 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $54,233,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter worth $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 202.6% during the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% during the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $278.09 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $274.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $264.23. The company has a market capitalization of $78.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 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. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $278.51 per share, with a total value 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Mizuho upped their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $290.92.

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.