Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC Invests $532,000 in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $532,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ECL. Waverly Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Waverly Advisors LLC now owns 117,563 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,274,000 after acquiring an additional 717 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $3,366,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Ecolab by 2,470.3% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 259,009 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $68,902,000 after purchasing an additional 248,932 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at approximately $83,370,000. Finally, GC Wealth Management RIA LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.1% during the first quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $934,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research downgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $337.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $352.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $324.06.

Ecolab Trading Up 2.1%

NYSE:ECL opened at $268.73 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $75.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.36, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $243.15 and a 12 month high of $309.27. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $266.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.12.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.70. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.64% and a net margin of 12.80%.The business had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,004 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.98, for a total value of $266,039.92. Following the sale, the director owned 11,651 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,087,281.98. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Darrell R. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $260.89, for a total transaction of $2,608,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 32,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,539,712.37. This represents a 23.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have bought 10,550 shares of company stock worth $2,719,508. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.