Perpetual Ltd Decreases Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Perpetual Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 48,244 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,113 shares during the quarter. Perpetual Ltd’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,665,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ecolab by 2.1% during the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 2,610,791 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $703,452,000 after buying an additional 90,005 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 2,497,626 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $674,497,000 after buying an additional 205,634 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of Ecolab by 3.0% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 2,159,989 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $591,535,000 after buying an additional 63,629 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,718,633 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $453,857,000 after buying an additional 65,836 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE ECL opened at $263.77 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $309.27. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $284.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $273.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.49 billion, a PE ratio of 36.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.02.

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

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.11%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Ecolab from $315.00 to $352.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Mizuho set a $335.00 price objective on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $312.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $325.00 target price on Ecolab and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, February 13th. One investment 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.56.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

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

Ecolab Company 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.