109,559 Shares in Ecolab Inc. $ECL Acquired by Engineers Gate Manager LP

Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 109,559 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,524,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Ecolab by 26,161.1% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 129,279,498 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $36,018,561,000 after purchasing an additional 128,787,212 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $6,422,340,000. Corient Private Wealth LP bought a new stake in Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $244,381,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Ecolab by 63.1% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,622,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,788,497,000 after buying an additional 4,110,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors bought a new position in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,022,334,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total value of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 72,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This represents a 19.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ECL. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $337.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $342.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $275.00 to $295.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Ecolab from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Ecolab from $295.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.56.

Ecolab Price Performance

ECL stock opened at $272.68 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.60, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $278.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $272.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a current ratio of 1.84. Ecolab Inc. has a 52-week low of $243.15 and a 52-week high of $309.27.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 22.72%. Ecolab’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.89 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.17 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 15th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is 39.19%.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab Inc (NYSE:ECL) provides water, hygiene, infection prevention and technology solutions to businesses and institutions worldwide. Its customers include restaurants, hotels, hospitals, manufacturers, food and beverage companies, retailers and other organizations that rely on safe, efficient and sustainable operating environments.

The company’s offerings include cleaning and sanitizing products, water-treatment and process-management systems, food-safety programs, infection-prevention solutions and pest-elimination services.