Findlay Park Partners LLP Has $118.44 Million Stock Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Findlay Park Partners LLP cut its holdings in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 432,484 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 7,700 shares during the quarter. Findlay Park Partners LLP’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $118,440,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 64.5% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 878,829 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $240,676,000 after buying an additional 344,541 shares in the last quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. grew its position in Ecolab by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. now owns 72,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $19,773,000 after acquiring an additional 14,800 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Ecolab by 20.5% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 66,656 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $18,254,000 after acquiring an additional 11,322 shares during the last quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. raised its position in Ecolab by 162.4% in the third quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 5,364 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 3,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.7% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 597,913 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $163,744,000 after purchasing an additional 9,837 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $312.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $323.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $315.00 to $352.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $295.00 to $312.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Ecolab from $294.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $323.56.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL opened at $308.06 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $282.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $274.21. Ecolab Inc. has a 12 month low of $221.62 and a 12 month high of $309.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.99.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The basic materials company reported $2.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.07 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.73% and a net margin of 12.91%.The firm had revenue of $4.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.20 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.81 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.670-1.730 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 17th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.9%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 40.11%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director David Maclennan acquired 750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $257.60 per share, for a total transaction of $193,200.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 23,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,933,816. The trade was a 3.37% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Christophe Beck sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.37, for a total transaction of $6,147,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,794 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,907,351.78. This represents a 18.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.04% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Ecolab

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.