Freemont Management S.A. Buys Shares of 52,300 Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Freemont Management S.A. bought a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 52,300 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,092,000. Ecolab makes up about 2.1% of Freemont Management S.A.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Ecolab during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 202.6% during the second quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% in the 1st quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 145 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ecolab during the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ecolab

In other Ecolab news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total transaction of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total value of $383,398.64. Following the sale, the director owned 11,199 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,171,108.84. The trade was a 10.79% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 0.04% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ecolab Stock Performance

Shares of ECL stock opened at $255.86 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.47 billion, a PE ratio of 36.76, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $270.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $266.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Ecolab Inc. has a one year low of $221.62 and a one year high of $286.04.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho set a $315.00 target price on Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Ecolab from $325.00 to $323.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 27th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Ecolab from $299.00 to $291.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.