BCS Private Wealth Management Inc. Buys New Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

BCS Private Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 17,153 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,633,000. Ecolab accounts for about 1.7% of BCS Private Wealth Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 202.6% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 81.5% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 target price on shares of Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Mizuho set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total transaction of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,989,868.04. This trade represents a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total transaction of $381,451.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. The trade was a 19.89% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.6%

ECL stock opened at $253.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $71.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.36, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $286.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $267.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $269.06.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. Research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.95%.

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.