Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 5.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,427 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,732,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Dunhill Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at about $38,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $270.16 on Tuesday. 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. The company has a 50 day moving average of $274.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $263.26. The company has a market capitalization of $76.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $299.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Baird R W raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.29.

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.