Financial Connections Group Inc. Buys New Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 100 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% in the first 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 period. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% in the first 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 period. Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Abound Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $40,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.29.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.3%

ECL stock opened at $271.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.09. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $274.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $262.97. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.The company 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 analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.