OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Purchases New Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 14,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,959,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted 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 period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its position in Ecolab by 22.9% during the second 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 in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 0.8% in the 2nd 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 boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 19,324 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $337.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.56.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. The trade was a 19.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,004 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.98, for a total value of $266,039.92. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,087,281.98. This trade represents a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 28,866 shares of company stock valued at $7,878,801. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $280.73 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $276.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.68, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.88. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.15 and a 1-year high of $309.27.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 22.72%. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.19%.

Ecolab 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.