Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Lmcg Investments LLC

Lmcg Investments LLC trimmed its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,551 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 76 shares during the quarter. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $957,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 12,844 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,461,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth $415,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 14.1% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $853,000 after buying an additional 392 shares during the period. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 10.3% in the second quarter. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,838 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,577,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the period. Finally, L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.9% in the second quarter. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP now owns 36,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $9,755,000 after buying an additional 676 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $271.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $77.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.29, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $286.04. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $274.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $263.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The firm 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. Analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 34.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. UBS Group raised their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Mizuho raised their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Baird R W raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab 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 value of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the transaction, the director directly 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. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.