Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 29,031 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,822,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ECL. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in Ecolab by 164.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth about $530,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Ecolab by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 773,487 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $196,063,000 after purchasing an additional 7,976 shares during the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Ecolab by 15.7% during the 1st quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,695 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Finally, Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Ecolab by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 19,634 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $4,978,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,989,868.04. This represents a 23.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 750 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $257.60 per share, with a total value of $193,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 23,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,933,816. This represents a 3.37% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price target on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays lifted their target price on Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.14.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.9%

ECL opened at $261.14 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.70. The company has a market capitalization of $73.96 billion, a PE ratio of 37.52, a P/E/G ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 0.98. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $266.26 and its 200-day moving average is $268.99. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.07. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The business had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.57 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue 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 predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be issued 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, December 16th. This is an increase from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 41.95%.

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.