Legacy Trust Cuts Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Legacy Trust reduced its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,152 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 55 shares during the quarter. Legacy Trust’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,196,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 164.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 65.4% during the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 4,238 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 1,675 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $543,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the period. Elk River Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Elk River Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,365 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $3,905,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares during the period. Finally, CMC Financial Group purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at about $284,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.0%

ECL opened at $276.60 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $272.68 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $262.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.93, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 34.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Saturday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Mizuho increased their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Baird R W raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.00.

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.