Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Sells 2,000 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lowered its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 3.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 53,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 2,000 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $13,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ECL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,190,115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $6,898,565,000 after acquiring an additional 527,902 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 195.9% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 670,778 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $183,699,000 after acquiring an additional 444,053 shares in the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at $113,287,000. M&T Bank Corp increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 594.6% in the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 493,525 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $129,560,000 after acquiring an additional 422,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ecolab by 115.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 727,370 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $193,753,000 after acquiring an additional 389,981 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL opened at $260.45 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 0.99 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The company has a market capitalization of $73.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.17 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $262.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $271.52. Ecolab Inc. has a 1 year low of $243.15 and a 1 year high of $309.27.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 22.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.50 EPS. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 16th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is currently 39.51%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ECL shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $352.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $337.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $337.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $325.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $337.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $322.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ecolab news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,004 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.98, for a total transaction of $266,039.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,087,281.98. The trade was a 7.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director David Maclennan acquired 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $250.65 per share, for a total transaction of $250,650.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 25,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,323,899.50. The trade was a 4.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 0.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab, Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene and infection prevention solutions and services. The company develops and supplies cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, dispensing equipment, water-treatment systems, pest elimination services and related technologies designed to help businesses maintain clean, safe and efficient operations. Its offerings span both products and onsite services, often paired with technical support and training.

Ecolab serves a broad range of end markets including hospitality and foodservice, food and beverage processing, healthcare, manufacturing and industrial operations, and energy and utilities.