Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $141.70 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 38.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 517,417 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 144,702 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $141,700,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $284,000. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its stake in Ecolab by 1,189.2% during the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 144,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,606,000 after purchasing an additional 133,192 shares in the last quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $29,956,000. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in Ecolab by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 437,180 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $117,794,000 after buying an additional 8,608 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Ecolab by 0.9% in the second quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 108,125 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $29,133,000 after buying an additional 989 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $259.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.56 billion, a PE ratio of 37.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.98. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $265.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $268.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 37.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $257.60 per share, with a total value of $193,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 23,035 shares in the company, valued at $5,933,816. This represents a 3.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total value of $381,451.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. The trade was a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 target price on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

About Ecolab

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.