Kimelman & Baird LLC Invests $1.58 Million in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Kimelman & Baird LLC acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 5,658 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,576,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Pin Oak Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth approximately $33,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt acquired a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $515,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $11,556,000. Glenview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,573,000. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $22,115,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Ecolab from $352.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Ecolab from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.56.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, EVP Benjamin M. Clark acquired 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $263.83 per share, for a total transaction of $263,830.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the executive vice president owned 1,083 shares in the company, valued at approximately $285,727.89. This trade represents a 1,204.82% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Darrell R. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.89, for a total value of $2,608,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,539,712.37. This trade represents a 23.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.4%

ECL opened at $287.06 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.15 and a fifty-two week high of $309.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.47 billion, a PE ratio of 38.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.57. The company’s 50-day moving average is $278.36 and its 200 day moving average is $273.80.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 12.57%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 39.19%.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.