Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. cut its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.0% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 196 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $805,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 7,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,030,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,449 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 902 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $229,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $525,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE ECL opened at $280.31 on Tuesday. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $274.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $264.13. The company has a market capitalization of $79.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.71%.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Erste Group Bank started coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Baird R W raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of 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 issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.