L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP Has $9.76 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 36,203 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 676 shares during the quarter. Ecolab accounts for about 1.2% of L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest position. L. Roy Papp & Associates LLP’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,755,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 176.7% in the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 70.6% in the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In related news, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company’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 sale, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Baird R W raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.29.

Ecolab Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $272.34 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $273.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $262.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 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 (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. 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 payout ratio is currently 34.71%.

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.