Ecolab Inc. $ECL Stock Holdings Lifted by Groupe la Francaise

Groupe la Francaise lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 447.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,847 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 8,047 shares during the period. Groupe la Francaise’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $2,643,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westerkirk Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter valued at approximately $216,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp boosted its position in Ecolab by 72.8% during the 2nd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 15,901 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $4,284,000 after purchasing an additional 6,700 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in Ecolab by 28.6% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 20,500 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,524,000 after buying an additional 4,556 shares during the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 21.7% in the second quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 12,036 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,243,000 after buying an additional 2,146 shares during the period. Finally, First National Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 4.2% in the second quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 7,658 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $2,064,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. The trade was a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total transaction of $381,451.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. This trade represents a 19.89% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ECL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.14.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $264.30 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $74.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.97, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.33. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $286.04. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $268.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $269.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 last year, the firm earned $2.57 EPS. 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 and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Ecolab

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.