Welch & Forbes LLC Purchases 2,613 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Welch & Forbes LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 474,328 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,613 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for about 1.6% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $127,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ECL. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the second quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $807,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in Ecolab by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $805,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management grew its holdings in Ecolab by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 7,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,030,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its position 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 valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $525,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $256.51 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $72.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.85, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $272.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.41.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.07. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.57 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 37.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three 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 stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $294.77.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.