Voya Investment Management LLC Cuts Stake in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Voya Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 0.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 565,882 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 5,418 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $154,972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ecolab in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Ecolab by 202.6% during the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 77 shares during the period. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 81.5% in the second quarter. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 118 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at $40,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $265.00 to $300.00 in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $294.57.

Ecolab Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $262.80 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $265.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $268.86. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $286.04. The company has a market cap of $74.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.76, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.98.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.07. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.57 earnings per share. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 41.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total transaction of $381,451.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. This trade represents a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $257.60 per share, for a total transaction of $193,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 23,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,933,816. The trade was a 3.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.