LaFleur & Godfrey LLC Sells 1,174 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• LaFleur & Godfrey LLC reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 1.5% in Q2, maintaining 77,037 shares, which represent approximately 2.6% of its portfolio.
• Ecolab reported Q2 earnings of $1.89 per share, falling short of analysts' expectations of $1.90, while revenue matched the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion.
• The company has set a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with a dividend yield of 1.0%, to be paid on October 15.

LaFleur & Godfrey LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 1.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 77,037 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,174 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for 2.6% of LaFleur & Godfrey LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. LaFleur & Godfrey LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $20,757,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% during the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on ECL. UBS Group increased their price target on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock traded up $1.99 on Monday, hitting $267.47. The company had a trading volume of 1,468,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,288,262. The firm has a market cap of $75.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $272.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $261.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) 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 analysts' expectations 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

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