ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Acquires 888 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 166,433 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 888 shares during the period. ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. owned approximately 0.06% of Ecolab worth $44,844,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $38,000. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $39,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $269.83 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04. The company has a market capitalization of $76.53 billion, a PE ratio of 36.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.09. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $272.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $261.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates 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. Analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 34.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ECL. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.00.

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.