Copeland Capital Management LLC Makes New $8.81 Million Investment in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Copeland Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 33,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,809,000.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ecolab by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,327,693 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,649,026,000 after acquiring an additional 137,578 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Ecolab by 63.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,622,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,788,497,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110,472 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Ecolab by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,883,084 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,069,468,000 after acquiring an additional 441,747 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,635,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,472,599,000 after purchasing an additional 46,569 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,022,334,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ECL. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $296.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Ecolab from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $295.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Ecolab from $352.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $324.06.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $272.91 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $243.15 and a 52 week high of $309.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $76.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $264.97 and a 200-day moving average of $273.03.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 22.64%. The business’s revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Darrell R. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.89, for a total value of $2,608,900.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 32,733 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,539,712.37. This represents a 23.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,004 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.98, for a total transaction of $266,039.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,651 shares in the company, valued at $3,087,281.98. The trade was a 7.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 10,550 shares of company stock worth $2,719,508. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.