PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators Makes New Investment in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

PBU The Pension Fund of Early Childhood & Youth Educators acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 69,642 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,282,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ECL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 164.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 2,302 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Ecolab by 39.8% during the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 394 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 1,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $5,684,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 58,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,741,000 after buying an additional 19,324 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Ecolab from $320.00 to $296.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $323.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $337.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $293.00 to $325.00 in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $312.00 price target on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $322.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ecolab news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,004 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $264.98, for a total transaction of $266,039.92. Following the sale, the director directly owned 11,651 shares in the company, valued at $3,087,281.98. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director David Maclennan bought 1,000 shares of Ecolab stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $250.65 per share, for a total transaction of $250,650.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 25,230 shares in the company, valued at $6,323,899.50. This represents a 4.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $258.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.99, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $261.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $271.23. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.15 and a fifty-two week high of $309.27.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 28th. The basic materials company reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.70. The firm had revenue of $4.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.80% and a return on equity of 22.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.50 EPS. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.47 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is 39.51%.

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.