Graham Capital Management L.P. Acquires New Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Graham Capital Management L.P. has acquired 15,344 shares of Ecolab Inc., valued at approximately $3.89 million, during the first quarter of 2023.
• Ecolab has recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.65 per share, which represents an annual yield of 0.9% and will be paid on October 15th.
• Despite missing analysts' EPS estimates in its last quarterly earnings report, Ecolab maintains a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" among analysts, with an average target price of $291.21.

Graham Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 15,344 shares of the basic materials company's stock, valued at approximately $3,890,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $867,000 after purchasing an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 8,752 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $2,051,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. AlTi Global Inc. grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 139.9% in the fourth quarter. AlTi Global Inc. now owns 2,092 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,220 shares during the last quarter. Accredited Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 29.6% in the fourth quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,256 shares of the basic materials company's stock valued at $764,000 after purchasing an additional 744 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company set a $260.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Baird R W upgraded Ecolab from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $291.21.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the 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 owned 11,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL traded up $1.87 on Thursday, hitting $275.10. 1,526,616 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,302,298. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $272.21 and a 200-day moving average of $261.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.44, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04. The stock has a market cap of $78.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.73, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.07.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%.The business 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. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date 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.