109,559 Shares in Ecolab Inc. $ECL Acquired by Engineers Gate Manager LP

Key Points

• Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired 109,559 Ecolab shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $30.5 million. Institutional investors collectively own 74.91% of the company.
• Ecolab reported quarterly revenue of $4.42 billion and adjusted earnings of $2.09 per share, slightly exceeding analyst expectations; revenue increased 9.7% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $327.56 versus the stock’s reported price of $272.68. Ecolab also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.73 per share, yielding 1.1% annually.

Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 109,559 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $30,524,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Cidel Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 10.2% during the second quarter. Cidel Asset Management Inc. now owns 926 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $258,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $200,000. Capital Analysts LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 81.2% during the second quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 290 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $81,000 after buying an additional 130 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,290 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $359,000 after acquiring an additional 53 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 18.8% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 410,098 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $114,257,000 after purchasing an additional 65,005 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $342.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $327.56.

Ecolab Stock Down 2.0%

ECL opened at $272.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $76.44 billion, a PE ratio of 36.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.88. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $278.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $272.46. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.15 and a 1-year high of $309.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.19%.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab Inc NYSE: ECL provides water, hygiene, infection prevention and technology solutions to businesses and institutions worldwide. Its customers include restaurants, hotels, hospitals, manufacturers, food and beverage companies, retailers and other organizations that rely on safe, efficient and sustainable operating environments.

The company's offerings include cleaning and sanitizing products, water-treatment and process-management systems, food-safety programs, infection-prevention solutions and pest-elimination services.

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