Generali Investments Management Co LLC Raises Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Generali Investments Management Co LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 28.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,525 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 771 shares during the quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $948,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 6.6% in the 1st quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,876,000 after acquiring an additional 2,651 shares in the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. grew its holdings in Ecolab by 32.4% in the first quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. now owns 14,005 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $3,551,000 after purchasing an additional 3,428 shares during the period. Mirabaud & Cie SA increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the first quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab during the first quarter valued at approximately $284,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 1,189.2% in the 1st quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 144,392 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,606,000 after purchasing an additional 133,192 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This trade represents a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

NYSE ECL opened at $258.38 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $268.76 and a 200 day moving average of $267.82. 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 company has a market capitalization of $73.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.12, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.49% and a return on equity of 22.55%. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.57 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ECL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price objective on Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.14.

About Ecolab

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.