Ritholtz Wealth Management Grows Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Ritholtz Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 17.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,836 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 277 shares during the quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $495,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its position in Ecolab by 202.6% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 11.0% during the second quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,116 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $570,000 after buying an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.9% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 135,833 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $36,599,000 after acquiring an additional 5,051 shares in the last quarter. Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $217,000. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 7,176 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on ECL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Baird R W raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $290.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $276.37 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $274.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $263.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.90, a PEG ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 34.71%.

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.