Clough Capital Partners L P Lowers Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Clough Capital Partners L P reduced its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 40.9%, selling 8,748 shares and holding 12,630 shares valued at approximately $3.2 million at the end of the 1st quarter.
• Overall, 74.91% of Ecolab's stock is owned by institutional investors, indicating significant institutional interest in the company.
• The company recently declared a $0.65 per share dividend, which will be paid on October 15th, with a current annualized yield of 0.9%.

Clough Capital Partners L P lessened its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 40.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 12,630 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 8,748 shares during the quarter. Clough Capital Partners L P's holdings in Ecolab were worth $3,202,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Ecolab by 164.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 27.7% during the 4th quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,926 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth $2,208,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its stake in Ecolab by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 56,269 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $13,185,000 after buying an additional 3,076 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on ECL shares. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $273.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $315.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 14th. Three equities research 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 MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $291.21.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company'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 sale, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $2.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $274.93. 986,890 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,300,164. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $271.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $260.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.98 billion, a PE ratio of 36.71, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders 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 is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab's payout ratio is 34.71%.

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.