Candriam S.C.A. Sells 6,191 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Candriam S.C.A. cut its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.0% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 303,773 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 6,191 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $81,852,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at $337,563,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 119.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,036,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $548,671,000 after acquiring an additional 1,109,585 shares during the period. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in shares of Ecolab by 27,677.8% during the 1st quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $253,520,000 after acquiring an additional 996,400 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ecolab by 1.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,188,736,000 after acquiring an additional 261,489 shares during the period. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in Ecolab by 43.2% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 834,058 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $211,450,000 after purchasing an additional 251,730 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of ECL opened at $261.04 on Thursday. 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 cap of $73.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.51, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $269.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $267.57. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $221.62 and a 52-week 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The company had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.57 earnings per share. The firm’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. Analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director directly owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Baird R W raised Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer upgraded Ecolab to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

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.