Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Lowers Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd trimmed its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 80.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,994 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 12,350 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 valued at $807,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% in the second quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 3,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $805,000 after acquiring an additional 39 shares in the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.5% in the second quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 7,534 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,030,000 after purchasing an additional 39 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.8% in the first quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 1,449 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 2.0% in the first quarter. Kirtland Hills Capital Management LLC now owns 2,199 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $525,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $258.27 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $271.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $266.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.11, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 37.36%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 600 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $278.51 per share, for a total transaction of $167,106.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 20,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,640,663.03. This trade represents a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on 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 report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Ecolab Profile

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.