Capital Fund Management S.A. Buys New Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Capital Fund Management has invested approximately $8.65 million in Ecolab Inc., acquiring 34,117 shares as reported in their latest SEC filing.
• Ecolab recently missed its earnings expectations with an EPS of $1.89 for the quarter, just below the consensus estimate of $1.90.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, with a record date of September 16th and a payout ratio of 34.71%.

Capital Fund Management S.A. acquired a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 34,117 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $8,649,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 27,182.2% during 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 acquired a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth $337,563,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,677.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 79.6% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,260,813 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $319,641,000 after acquiring an additional 558,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 3,129,058 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $733,201,000 after buying an additional 514,944 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Ecolab from $307.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and increased their price target for the company from $273.00 to $300.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $291.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly 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. Insiders own 0.04% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.3%

NYSE ECL traded up $0.71 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $279.07. 479,178 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,300,592. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.15 billion, a PE ratio of 37.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.06. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week 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's fifty day simple moving average is $270.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $260.20.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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. Sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

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.