Baer Investment Advisory LLC Invests $1.21 Million in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Baer Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 4,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,209,000. Ecolab makes up 1.7% of Baer Investment Advisory LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 29.0% in the second quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $284,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares during the period. Wealthfront Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 25,007 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,738,000 after acquiring an additional 1,248 shares during the last quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ingalls & Snyder LLC now owns 7,848 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,115,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 58.2% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 5,620 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,514,000 after buying an additional 2,068 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 11,761 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,169,000 after buying an additional 51 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 20,253 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.8%

Ecolab stock opened at $277.35 on Monday. 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. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $274.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $265.44. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released 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 company had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. 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 expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Friday. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $290.92.

Ecolab 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.