Moore Capital Management LP Has $26.74 Million Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Moore Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 7.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 101,853 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,790 shares during the quarter. Moore Capital Management LP’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $26,738,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 38.7% during the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 22,362 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,870,000 after purchasing an additional 6,238 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its holdings in Ecolab by 25.9% during the fourth quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 330,698 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $86,670,000 after purchasing an additional 68,062 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 7.7% during the third quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC now owns 48,231 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $13,240,000 after purchasing an additional 3,464 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its holdings in Ecolab by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH now owns 163,731 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $43,464,000 after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC grew its holdings in Ecolab by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 100,542 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $26,394,000 after purchasing an additional 12,890 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Berenberg Bank upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $326.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, March 16th. Weiss Ratings cut Ecolab from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. UBS Group raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $293.00 to $325.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $312.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $295.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $323.41.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In related news, COO Darrell R. Brown sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $260.89, for a total value of $2,608,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 32,733 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,539,712.37. This trade represents a 23.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 1,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $250.65 per share, with a total value of $250,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 25,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,323,899.50. This trade represents a 4.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders purchased 10,550 shares of company stock valued at $2,719,508 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.8%

ECL opened at $268.87 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $243.15 and a 1-year high of $309.27. The company has a current ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.90. The business has a 50 day moving average of $261.32 and a 200-day moving average of $271.21.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $1.70. The company had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.64% and a net margin of 12.80%.Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.50 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be given a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.51%.

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.