Yousif Capital Management LLC Decreases Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Yousif Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,511 shares during the quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $17,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MGO One Seven LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 13.3% during the second quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 2,174 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $586,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 26.0% in the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 78,675 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $21,448,000 after purchasing an additional 16,224 shares during the period. Index Fund Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $456,000. Clarendon Private LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $381,000. Finally, CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 75.2% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 22,932 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,179,000 after buying an additional 9,842 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $271.80 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $77.09 billion, a PE ratio of 36.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $274.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $263.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion during 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. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 34.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of Ecolab 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 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. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on ECL shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $292.29.

Ecolab Company 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.