Sarasin & Partners LLP Acquires 4,445 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. by 8.4%, acquiring an additional 4,445 shares to hold a total of 57,588 shares valued at approximately $15.5 million.
• Several institutional investors have made significant adjustments to their holdings in Ecolab, with the company seeing 74.91% of its stock owned by institutional investors.
• Analysts show a positive outlook for Ecolab, with multiple firms upgrading the stock to "outperform" or "strong-buy" ratings and setting a consensus target price of $292.00.

Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 8.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,588 shares of the basic materials company's stock after buying an additional 4,445 shares during the quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP's holdings in Ecolab were worth $15,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 176.7% during the 1st quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC now owns 119 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. City Holding Co. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $39,000. Finally, Olde Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 11,199 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 4,326 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on ECL. Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab to an "outperform" rating 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 report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $293.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $307.00 to $310.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, September 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $292.00.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $264.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $272.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $261.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.07. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). 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. Equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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