GC Wealth Management RIA LLC Has $816,000 Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• GC Wealth Management RIA LLC increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 202.4% to a total of 3,027 shares, valued at $816,000.
• Ecolab reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.89, slightly below analyst estimates, while its revenue matched expectations at $4.03 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with an annualized yield of 1.0%, to be paid on October 15th.

GC Wealth Management RIA LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 202.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,027 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 2,026 shares during the quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $816,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,188,736,000 after acquiring an additional 261,489 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its stake in Ecolab by 2.3% in the first quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,036,485,000 after purchasing an additional 93,409 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 4.0% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,805,952 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $964,885,000 after purchasing an additional 145,902 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,577,229 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $906,900,000 after purchasing an additional 27,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,718,340 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $689,154,000 after buying an additional 173,298 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $272.72 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 has a 50-day moving average of $272.42 and a 200-day moving average of $261.67. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04. The company has a market cap of $77.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $4.03 billion for 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. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 34.71%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 20,253 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ECL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.00.

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.

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