Capital Management Associates Inc Takes $1.46 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Capital Management Associates Inc purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 5,561 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,460,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ecolab by 2.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,190,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,898,565,000 after purchasing an additional 527,902 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in Ecolab by 195.9% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 670,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $183,699,000 after purchasing an additional 444,053 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 115.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 727,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $193,753,000 after buying an additional 389,981 shares in the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $97,664,000. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 64.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 878,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $240,676,000 after acquiring an additional 344,541 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of ECL stock opened at $263.77 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $74.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.23, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $284.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $273.57. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $309.27.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.20 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.73% and a net margin of 12.91%.Ecolab’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.81 EPS. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.670-1.730 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 40.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $307.37, for a total transaction of $6,147,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,794 shares in the company, valued at $27,907,351.78. The trade was a 18.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Tracy B. Mckibben sold 1,265 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.66, for a total transaction of $390,454.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,505,760.28. The trade was a 10.02% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on ECL. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $312.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $330.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. BNP Paribas Exane reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $345.00 price target (up from $330.00) on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Ecolab from $320.00 to $296.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Ecolab from $315.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.56.

Ecolab Profile

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.