Danske Bank A S Buys 20,247 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Danske Bank A/S raised its stake in Ecolab by 8.7%, buying 20,247 shares to bring its holding to 251,977 shares worth about $66.15 million (roughly 0.09% of the company).
• Q1 results and guidance: Ecolab reported $1.70 EPS (in line with estimates) and $4.07B revenue (ahead, +10% YoY), and set FY 2026 guidance of 8.430–8.630 EPS with Q2 guidance of 2.020–2.120 EPS.
• Analyst sentiment is a "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $322.53, and several broker upgrades recently (including JPMorgan to "overweight" and Stifel raising its target to $337).

Danske Bank A S grew its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 8.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 251,977 shares of the basic materials company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,247 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S owned approximately 0.09% of Ecolab worth $66,149,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,190,115 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $6,898,565,000 after purchasing an additional 527,902 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 195.9% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 670,778 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $183,699,000 after purchasing an additional 444,053 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 594.6% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 493,525 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $129,560,000 after purchasing an additional 422,471 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 115.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 727,370 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $193,753,000 after purchasing an additional 389,981 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holocene Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at $97,664,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $295.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on Ecolab from $320.00 to $296.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating and set a $312.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $300.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $322.53.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 20,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.37, for a total transaction of $6,147,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,794 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,907,351.78. The trade was a 18.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Tracy B. Mckibben sold 1,265 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.66, for a total value of $390,454.90. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,358 shares in the company, valued at $3,505,760.28. The trade was a 10.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of ECL stock opened at $259.80 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 0.92. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $249.04 and a twelve month high of $309.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $275.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $273.25.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.70. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.64% and a net margin of 12.80%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ecolab's payout ratio is presently 39.51%.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.

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