Baillie Gifford & Co. Has $194.90 Million Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 711,667 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 16,675 shares during the quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $194,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 1.3% in the second quarter. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC now owns 2,995 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $807,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 7,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,030,000 after buying an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Group Ltd grew its holdings in Ecolab by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Wealth Group Ltd now owns 853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $234,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter. Perennial Investment Advisors LLC now owns 916 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 41 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Level Four Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.9% during the second quarter. Level Four Advisory Services LLC now owns 4,625 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,246,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, Director David Maclennan purchased 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $257.60 per share, for a total transaction of $193,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 23,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,933,816. This represents a 3.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This trade represents a 23.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price objective on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI raised Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $265.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Mizuho set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Ecolab from $291.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $296.00.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2%

Ecolab stock opened at $281.92 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $267.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $269.41. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market cap of $79.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 0.99.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue 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. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.95%.

About Ecolab

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.