OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Buys 3,543 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 20.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,676 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 3,543 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $5,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 39.8% in the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its position in Ecolab by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 1,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,684,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Ecolab by 49.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 19,324 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on ECL. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Ecolab from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 10th. Citigroup upped their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $324.06.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,004 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.98, for a total value of $266,039.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,651 shares in the company, valued at $3,087,281.98. This trade represents a 7.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $250.65 per share, with a total value of $250,650.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 25,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,323,899.50. This trade represents a 4.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have purchased a total of 10,550 shares of company stock worth $2,719,508 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $268.73 on Monday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $266.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $273.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.89. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.15 and a 52-week high of $309.27.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 22.64%. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.