Bayforest Capital Ltd Purchases 117 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 141.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $51,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 164.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,752 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,051,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Rafferty Asset Management LLC now owns 21,876 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,126,000 after buying an additional 2,330 shares during the period. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,517 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $826,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Sagefield Capital LP purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,068,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8%

ECL stock opened at $272.74 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $272.57 and a 200 day moving average of $261.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.36 billion, a PE ratio of 36.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.07. 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). The company 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid 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 (DPR) is 34.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of Ecolab 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 directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. 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 raised their target price 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. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $292.00.

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.