Mirova US LLC Buys 73,628 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Mirova US LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,052,803 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 73,628 shares during the period. Ecolab comprises about 5.7% of Mirova US LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Mirova US LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $553,107,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 6.6% during the 1st quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 42,899 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $10,876,000 after purchasing an additional 2,651 shares during the last quarter. University of Texas Texas AM Investment Management Co. increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 32.4% during the 1st 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 last quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 5,576 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,414,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Mirabaud & Cie SA now owns 5,092 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,291,000 after purchasing an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $284,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $278.80 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $273.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $262.56. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04. The firm has a market cap of $79.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.09.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.90 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 13.59% and a return on equity of 22.52%. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 34.71%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 600 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $278.51 per share, with a total value of $167,106.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 20,253 shares in the company, valued at $5,640,663.03. The trade was a 3.05% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ECL. Oppenheimer raised Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Baird R W raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Monday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $292.29.

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.