Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Decreases Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.6% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 284,435 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 13,711 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $75,360,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 1,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,684,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 19,324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $296.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. UBS Group raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $293.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $352.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.71.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $274.29 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. The firm has a market cap of $77.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.89. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $263.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $272.73. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $243.15 and a one year high of $309.27.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.64% and a net margin of 12.80%.The company had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.50 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.18 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.51%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Darrell R. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.89, for a total transaction of $2,608,900.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 32,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,539,712.37. This represents a 23.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,004 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.98, for a total transaction of $266,039.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,087,281.98. This trade represents a 7.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have acquired 10,550 shares of company stock worth $2,719,508 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

About Ecolab

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.