Amundi Buys 205,634 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Amundi raised its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 9.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,497,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 205,634 shares during the period. Amundi owned approximately 0.88% of Ecolab worth $674,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ecolab in the second quarter worth about $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp boosted its position 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 buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 81.5% during the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ECL. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. 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. Erste Group Bank initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock 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 given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.14.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the firm’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. This trade represents a 23.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The stock was 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.0%

NYSE:ECL opened at $264.46 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $268.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $269.04. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04. The firm has a market cap of $74.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.70.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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%. Ecolab’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.57 earnings per share. 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 analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 37.36%.

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.