Sustainable Growth Advisers LP Sells 50,987 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Key Points

• Sustainable Growth Advisers LP cut its Ecolab stake by 7.3% in the fourth quarter, selling 50,987 shares and leaving it with 645,018 shares valued at about $169.3 million.
• Analysts remain generally bullish on Ecolab, with multiple firms raising or reaffirming buy/outperform ratings and a consensus target price of $322.53, above the stock’s recent trading level near $250.69.
• Ecolab reported solid quarterly results, matching EPS expectations at $1.70 and beating revenue estimates with $4.07 billion in sales; the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.73 per share, payable July 15.

Sustainable Growth Advisers LP reduced its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL - Free Report) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 645,018 shares of the basic materials company's stock after selling 50,987 shares during the quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP owned about 0.23% of Ecolab worth $169,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 1,375.0% during the 4th quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ecolab by 88.7% during the 3rd quarter. FSA Wealth Management LLC now owns 117 shares of the basic materials company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pekao Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych S.A. bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 4th quarter worth about $49,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Ecolab from $300.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $337.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. BNP Paribas Exane reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $345.00 price objective (up from $330.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. UBS Group upgraded Ecolab from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $330.00 to $325.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $322.53.

Ecolab Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE:ECL opened at $250.69 on Tuesday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $243.15 and a twelve month high of $309.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $261.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $271.42. The company has a market cap of $70.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.12 and a beta of 0.90.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $1.70. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.64% and a net margin of 12.80%.The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. The business's revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. 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, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. Ecolab's dividend payout ratio is 39.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,004 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.98, for a total transaction of $266,039.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 11,651 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,087,281.98. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan purchased 1,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $250.65 per share, with a total value of $250,650.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 25,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,323,899.50. The trade was a 4.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company's stock.

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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