Freemont Management S.A. Invests $14.09 Million in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Freemont Management S.A. bought a new stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 52,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,092,000. Ecolab comprises 2.1% of Freemont Management S.A.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at approximately $337,563,000. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 119.7% during the 2nd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 2,036,339 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $548,671,000 after purchasing an additional 1,109,585 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its position in Ecolab by 27,677.8% during the first quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 1,000,000 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $253,520,000 after purchasing an additional 996,400 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 199.6% in the first quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd now owns 434,598 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $110,179,000 after purchasing an additional 289,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 261,489 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ECL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price objective on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Mizuho set a $315.00 target price on Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $265.00 to $300.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $295.14.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,208,165.28. This trade represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the business’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 completion of the transaction, 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 0.04% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

Ecolab stock opened at $255.86 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $72.47 billion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $270.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $266.90. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.57 EPS. Ecolab’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. FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.