Groupama Asset Managment Buys 10,502 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 28.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 46,851 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after buying an additional 10,502 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $12,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 63.1% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 10,622,035 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $2,788,497,000 after acquiring an additional 4,110,472 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $1,022,334,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab in the 4th quarter worth about $880,506,000. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in Ecolab by 26,152.0% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 945,072 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $24,810,000 after purchasing an additional 941,472 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Ecolab by 58.8% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,243,825 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $596,902,000 after purchasing an additional 830,726 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Ecolab from $337.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $337.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. Finally, Oppenheimer upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $327.56.

Ecolab Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ECL opened at $277.83 on Friday. Ecolab Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $243.15 and a fifty-two week high of $309.27. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $269.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $273.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 1.84. The firm has a market cap of $78.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.89.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.38 billion. Ecolab had a net margin of 12.57% and a return on equity of 22.72%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.89 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 16th were issued a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,004 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $264.98, for a total transaction of $266,039.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 11,651 shares of the company’s stock, 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 purchased 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 13th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $250.65 per share, for a total transaction of $250,650.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 25,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,323,899.50. The trade was a 4.13% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have purchased a total of 10,550 shares of company stock worth $2,719,508 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

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.