AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs Buys New Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs has invested approximately $2.64 million in Ecolab Inc. by purchasing 9,938 shares during the first quarter.
• The institutional ownership of Ecolab is strong, as 74.91% of the stock is held by institutional investors and hedge funds.
• Ecolab's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $1.89, which fell short of analysts' expectations of $1.90 by one cent.

AG2R LA Mondiale Gestion D Actifs bought a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,938 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $2,640,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 27,182.2% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,813,175 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $459,676,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806,529 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth about $337,563,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its position in Ecolab by 27,677.8% in the 1st quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $253,520,000 after purchasing an additional 996,400 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 79.6% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $319,641,000 after purchasing an additional 558,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $78,218,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 600 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 20,253 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2%

ECL stock traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $265.87. The company had a trading volume of 633,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,296,313. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $286.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The company has a market capitalization of $75.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.52, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average of $272.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $261.39.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released 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). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.The company had revenue of $4.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 34.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ECL. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $292.00.

Ecolab 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.