Simplicity Wealth LLC Buys 1,125 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 103.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,210 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,125 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, City Holding Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $39,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ECL. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Saturday, September 27th. 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. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.29.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of ECL stock opened at $278.80 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $273.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $262.56. 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 company has a market cap of $79.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted 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 net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. 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 expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the sale, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $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 available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% 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.