Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Confluence Investment Management LLC

Confluence Investment Management LLC cut its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 74,834 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 8,747 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $20,548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Findlay Park Partners LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at about $115,674,000. Erste Asset Management GmbH grew its stake 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 worth $43,464,000 after buying an additional 3,500 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the second quarter worth $16,698,000. S&CO Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter valued at $62,927,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its position in Ecolab by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 94,113 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $25,131,000 after purchasing an additional 5,191 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on ECL shares. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $337.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.56.

Ecolab Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Ecolab stock traded down $3.02 during trading on Thursday, reaching $271.56. The company had a trading volume of 426,809 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,449,297. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.84. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.15 and a fifty-two week high of $309.27. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $278.94 and its 200-day moving average is $270.36. The company has a market cap of $76.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.88.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.72% and a net margin of 12.57%.Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.89 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total transaction of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This represents a 19.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc (NYSE:ECL) is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and related services. The company helps businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations through specialized products, technologies, equipment and on-site expertise.

Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing solutions, water treatment and process-management systems, food safety programs, infection prevention products, pest elimination services and solutions for industrial operations. Ecolab serves customers in industries including hospitality, healthcare, food and beverage production, life sciences, manufacturing, energy, retail and institutional services.

The company was founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory and adopted the Ecolab name in 1986.