V Square Quantitative Management LLC Takes Position in Ecolab Inc. $ECL

V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 5,985 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,571,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ECL. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 164.7% during the 4th 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 period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 39.8% during the 2nd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,384 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 394 shares during the period. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 22.9% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 1,166 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $314,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 87.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 95,795 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $25,811,000 after acquiring an additional 44,586 shares during the period. Finally, L2 Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ecolab by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. L2 Asset Management LLC now owns 1,140 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $307,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on ECL shares. Erste Group Bank cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho set a $335.00 price objective on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Berenberg Bank upgraded Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $326.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Ecolab from $294.00 to $337.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Ecolab from $323.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have issued a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ecolab presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $323.56.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $273.24 on Thursday. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $309.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $283.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $273.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $4.19 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.20 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.81 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Ecolab has set its FY 2026 guidance at 8.430-8.630 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.670-1.730 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 17th will be issued a $0.73 dividend. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 17th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.11%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $307.37, for a total value of $6,147,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 90,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,907,351.78. The trade was a 18.05% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Tracy B. Mckibben sold 1,265 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $308.66, for a total value of $390,454.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 11,358 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,505,760.28. The trade was a 10.02% 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 corporate insiders.

Ecolab Profile

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.