HB Wealth Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

HB Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 8.2% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,736 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 1,943 shares during the quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $7,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 64.5% in 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 purchasing an additional 344,541 shares in the last quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 25.8% during the third quarter. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. now owns 72,200 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $19,773,000 after purchasing an additional 14,800 shares in the last quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Ecolab in the third quarter worth about $2,104,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its position in Ecolab by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 205,951 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $56,402,000 after buying an additional 4,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its stake in Ecolab by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 62,911 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $17,169,000 after buying an additional 5,323 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 21,714 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $261.41, for a total value of $5,676,256.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 72,644 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,989,868.04. The trade was a 23.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total transaction of $381,451.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. The trade was a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.04% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

ECL stock opened at $271.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $76.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a quick ratio of 1.33 and a current ratio of 1.70. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $263.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $268.90. Ecolab Inc. has a 52 week low of $221.62 and a 52 week high of $286.04.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.07. The firm had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.57 earnings per share. Ecolab has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 7.480-7.580 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 16th. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ECL. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $303.00 to $300.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on Ecolab from $291.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $323.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $294.86.

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.