KBC Group NV Buys 246,237 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

KBC Group NV lifted its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 49.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 741,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 246,237 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $199,723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 202.6% in the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% during the first quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the first quarter worth $40,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Trading Up 1.4%

Shares of ECL opened at $262.23 on Wednesday. Ecolab Inc. has a 1-year low of $221.62 and a 1-year high of $286.04. The company has a market capitalization of $74.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $269.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $267.62.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, hitting 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 analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.57 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets set a $307.00 price objective on Ecolab and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $295.14.

Ecolab 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.