Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 1,429 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 2.0%, selling 1,429 shares and holding 68,769 shares valued at approximately $18.5 million.
• Ecolab reported $1.89 earnings per share for Q2 2025, missing analysts' estimates, and had revenue of $4.03 billion in line with expectations.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65, with an ex-dividend date of September 16th, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.9%.

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 2.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 68,769 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 1,429 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $18,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in Ecolab by 1.3% during the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $805,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP raised its stake in Ecolab by 2.8% in the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,449 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 5.0% in the first quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 902 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $229,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 2.0% in the first quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Ecolab by 3.8% in the first quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,170 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $273.81 on Friday. The stock's fifty day moving average is $272.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $261.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.09. 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 Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 34.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 8th. Mizuho raised their price objective on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $292.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 $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. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.