Ecolab Inc. $ECL Stock Position Decreased by Notis McConarty Edward

Notis McConarty Edward cut its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 45.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,430 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Notis McConarty Edward’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% in the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.8%

Ecolab stock opened at $281.35 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company has a market capitalization of $79.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.56, a PEG ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $273.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $262.69.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 34.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.29.

Ecolab Company Profile

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.