Eventide Asset Management LLC Invests $473,000 in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Eventide Asset Management LLC has acquired 1,895 shares of Ecolab Inc., valued at approximately $473,000, indicating institutional interest in the company.
• Ecolab reported earnings of $1.89 per share for Q2, missing expectations by $0.01, while their third-quarter guidance is set at 2.020-2.120 EPS.
• A quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share will be paid on October 15th, representing an annualized dividend yield of 0.9%.

Eventide Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 1,895 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $473,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1.7% during 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. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 3,050.4% in the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 76,710 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $17,975,000 after buying an additional 79,310 shares during the period. Cary Street Partners Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter worth approximately $852,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 19,195 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $4,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on ECL. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup lowered their price target on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 price objective on Ecolab and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $292.00.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.7%

NYSE ECL traded down $4.59 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $270.77. 1,349,835 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,303,949. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $272.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $261.16. The company has a market capitalization of $76.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.15, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. 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, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 34.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of Ecolab 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 completion of the purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.