Mcdonald Capital Investors Inc. CA Cuts Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Mcdonald Capital Investors Inc. CA lowered its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 316,122 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,702 shares during the period. Ecolab accounts for about 5.3% of Mcdonald Capital Investors Inc. CA’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Mcdonald Capital Investors Inc. CA owned approximately 0.11% of Ecolab worth $85,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 202.6% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 70.6% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $277.35 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.37 and a 200 day simple moving average of $265.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $78.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.03, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09.

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). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 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 directly owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Friday. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Erste Group Bank started coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Three 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, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $290.92.

About Ecolab

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.