Creekmur Asset Management LLC Buys 303 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Creekmur Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 34.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,191 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 303 shares during the period. Creekmur Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,188,736,000 after acquiring an additional 261,489 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Ecolab by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,036,485,000 after purchasing an additional 93,409 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,805,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $964,885,000 after purchasing an additional 145,902 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in Ecolab by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,577,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $906,900,000 after purchasing an additional 27,619 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,718,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $689,154,000 after purchasing an additional 173,298 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $256.51 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.85, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $286.04. The business has a 50-day moving average of $272.43 and a 200-day moving average of $266.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $2.07. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $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. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 37.36%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Baird R W raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $294.77.

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.