Simplicity Wealth LLC Boosts Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 103.7% during the second quarter, now owning 2,210 shares valued at $596,000.
• Multiple hedge funds have boosted their positions in Ecolab, with Chemung Canal Trust Co. increasing its stake by 38.7% during the same period.
• Ecolab announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with an ex-dividend date of September 16th, 2025.

Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 103.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,210 shares of the basic materials company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,125 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Chemung Canal Trust Co. increased its position in Ecolab by 38.7% during the second quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 22,244 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $5,993,000 after acquiring an additional 6,209 shares during the last quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 6.4% during the second quarter. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC now owns 1,774 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $478,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the last quarter. Sava Infond d.o.o. purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter valued at $162,000. Corundum Group Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 1.2% during the second quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 5,129 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $1,382,000 after acquiring an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Segment Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 20.1% during the second quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,007 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ECL. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.29.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $278.80 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $286.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $273.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $262.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.03 billion. 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

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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