Segment Wealth Management LLC Grows Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Segment Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 20.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,007 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the quarter. Segment Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $541,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the first quarter worth about $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the first quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% during the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Baird R W raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $292.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the transaction, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $276.60 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.93, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $272.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $262.17. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. The company had revenue of $4.03 billion during 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. Sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 34.71%.

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.