1,855 Ecolab Inc. $ECL Shares Sold by Howland Capital Management LLC

Howland Capital Management LLC decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 1.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 172,696 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 1,855 shares during the period. Ecolab comprises approximately 1.7% of Howland Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $47,545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Wellington Altus USA Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 64.2% during the second quarter. Wellington Altus USA Inc. now owns 110 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Kings Path Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Polaris Financial Partners purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This trade represents a 19.67% 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 hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ECL has been the topic of several research reports. Robert W. Baird set a $305.00 price target on shares of Ecolab and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $345.00 to $360.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $299.00 to $305.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have assigned a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $324.50.

Ecolab Stock Up 1.5%

ECL opened at $292.32 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $280.29 and a two-hundred day moving average of $272.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.24, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.87. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.15 and a fifty-two week high of $309.27. 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 (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.01. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 22.72%. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th were given a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 15th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.0%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.19%.

About Ecolab

Ecolab Inc is a global provider of water, hygiene, infection prevention and cleaning solutions for businesses and institutions. The company helps customers manage water and energy use, maintain sanitary operations, protect food supplies and comply with health and safety standards.

Ecolab serves customers across industries including food and beverage processing, hospitality, healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, institutional facilities and energy. Its offerings include cleaning and sanitizing chemicals, water-treatment and process-management systems, pest-control services, kitchen and housekeeping products, infection-prevention programs, and related equipment, training and consulting services.

Founded in 1923 as Economics Laboratory, the company has expanded from its original focus on cleaning products into a broad range of technology-enabled services and solutions.