Night Squared LP Grows Stock Holdings in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Night Squared LP increased its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 21.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 35,573 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,392 shares during the period. Ecolab comprises 4.3% of Night Squared LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Night Squared LP’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $9,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 164.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at about $530,000. Cypress Capital Group acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $254,000. Trillium Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ecolab by 1.3% during the first quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC now owns 212,493 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $53,871,000 after buying an additional 2,737 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 4.0% in the first quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 284,865 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $71,887,000 after buying an additional 10,913 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Trading Down 1.6%

NYSE:ECL opened at $253.09 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $267.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $269.06. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $221.62 and a fifty-two week high of $286.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $71.68 billion, a PE ratio of 36.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.98.

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

Ecolab Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 16th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 16th. This is a boost from Ecolab’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.65. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director David Maclennan purchased 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $257.60 per share, with a total value of $193,200.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 23,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,933,816. This trade represents a 3.37% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Boo Alexander A. De sold 1,422 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.25, for a total value of $381,451.50. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 5,726 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,535,999.50. This trade represents a 19.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho set a $315.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Robert W. Baird set a $307.00 price objective on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $295.14.

Ecolab Company Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.