Impax Asset Management Group plc Purchases 27,790 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 653,174 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,790 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc owned approximately 0.23% of Ecolab worth $175,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ECL. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Ecolab by 202.6% during the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 70.6% in the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $41,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL opened at $261.04 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $269.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $267.57. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week high of $286.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.94 billion, a PE ratio of 37.51, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced 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 company had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The business’s revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.57 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 target price on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Evercore ISI raised Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $265.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.14.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. This trade represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Company 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.