CHICAGO TRUST Co NA Buys 3,707 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

CHICAGO TRUST Co NA lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 57.1% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 10,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,707 shares during the quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,713,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab by 164.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 39.8% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 22.9% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 1,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,684,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Ecolab by 49.4% in the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 58,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $15,741,000 after buying an additional 19,324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ECL. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $337.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $293.00 to $325.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Berenberg Bank raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $326.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 16th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Ecolab from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Ecolab from $352.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.71.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director Michel D. Doukeris purchased 7,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $258.00 per share, for a total transaction of $1,999,500.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 8,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,148,108. The trade was a 1,345.49% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Darrell R. Brown sold 10,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.89, for a total value of $2,608,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,539,712.37. This trade represents a 23.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders acquired 10,550 shares of company stock worth $2,719,508. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.0%

Ecolab stock opened at $278.48 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.99. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.15 and a 52-week high of $309.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $261.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $272.04. The firm has a market cap of $78.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.68, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.89.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 22.64%. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.46 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 39.51%.

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.