Ecolab Inc. $ECL Position Cut by Investment House LLC

Key Points

• Investment House LLC cut its Ecolab stake by 38.5% in the third quarter, selling 25,841 shares and retaining 41,303 shares valued at approximately $11.34 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 74.91% of Ecolab.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive: Ecolab has an average “Moderate Buy” rating, with 19 Buy, one Strong Buy and three Hold recommendations, and a consensus price target of $324.50.
• Ecolab reported quarterly revenue of $4.42 billion and earnings of $2.09 per share, slightly exceeding estimates, while revenue rose 9.7% year over year. The company also maintains a quarterly dividend of $0.73, or $2.92 annually, yielding about 1.0%.

Investment House LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 38.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,303 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 25,841 shares during the period. Investment House LLC's holdings in Ecolab were worth $11,341,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter worth $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Wellington Altus USA Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 64.2% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Polaris Financial Partners acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 3rd quarter worth about $31,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $320.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Berenberg Bank upped their target price on Ecolab from $299.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Ecolab from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a report on Monday, August 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Ecolab from $342.00 to $344.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, October 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $324.50.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $292.32 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.15 and a 52-week high of $309.27. The company has a 50 day moving average of $280.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.41. The company has a market cap of $81.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.08 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 22.72%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.38 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.89 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.

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