Ecolab Inc. $ECL Holdings Trimmed by Next Capital Management LLC

Next Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,775 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 455 shares during the quarter. Next Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $1,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Saudi Central Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 202.6% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Abound Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target 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 boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $250.00 to $265.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.14.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $257.39 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.00 billion, a PE ratio of 36.98, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $221.62 and a 1 year high of $286.04. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $272.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $266.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

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, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company 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. Analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.65 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 16th. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 37.36%.

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 business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

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.