Candriam S.C.A. Has $59.77 Million Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Candriam S.C.A. lessened its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 224,686 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 20,423 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned 0.08% of Ecolab worth $59,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Osprey Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 8.8% during the first quarter. Osprey Private Wealth LLC now owns 33,242 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $8,843,000 after buying an additional 2,697 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 29.3% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 10,345 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,752,000 after purchasing an additional 2,342 shares in the last quarter. AlpenGlobal Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the first quarter worth about $3,559,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its stake in Ecolab by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 997,987 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $265,210,000 after buying an additional 53,123 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director David Maclennan bought 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $250.65 per share, for a total transaction of $250,650.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 25,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,323,899.50. This trade represents a 4.13% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Darrell R. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.89, for a total transaction of $2,608,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 32,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,539,712.37. This trade represents a 23.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased a total of 10,550 shares of company stock worth $2,719,508 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $293.00 to $325.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on Ecolab from $352.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Ecolab from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on Ecolab from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $296.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.29.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $274.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $77.28 billion, a PE ratio of 37.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.89. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.15 and a fifty-two week high of $309.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $263.62 and a 200-day moving average of $272.81.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70. The business had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.64% and a net margin of 12.80%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.50 EPS. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 39.51%.

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.