Ecolab Inc. $ECL Stock Position Raised by AGF Management Ltd.

AGF Management Ltd. increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 81,284 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the quarter. AGF Management Ltd.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $21,901,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 202.6% during the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 70.6% in the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC purchased a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. The trade was a 15.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on ECL shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Mizuho set a $315.00 target price on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL opened at $255.86 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $72.47 billion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $270.19 and a 200-day moving average of $267.11. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released 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. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.57 earnings per share. 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, equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Company 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.