Findlay Park Partners LLP Buys Shares of 415,184 Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Findlay Park Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 415,184 shares of the basic materials company’s stock, valued at approximately $115,674,000. Findlay Park Partners LLP owned about 0.15% of Ecolab as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Ecolab by 164.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 3,700 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $867,000 after acquiring an additional 2,302 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Ecolab by 39.8% in 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. raised its stake in Ecolab by 22.9% in 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. NewEdge Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Ecolab by 0.8% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 21,096 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $5,684,000 after purchasing an additional 171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Ecolab by 49.4% during the second quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 58,421 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $15,741,000 after purchasing an additional 19,324 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Christophe Beck sold 17,862 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $280.14, for a total value of $5,003,860.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 72,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,431,170.48. This represents a 19.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michel D. Doukeris bought 7,750 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 10th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $258.00 per share, with a total value of $1,999,500.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 8,326 shares in the company, valued at $2,148,108. This trade represents a 1,345.49% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,866 shares of company stock worth $7,878,801. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ECL. Oppenheimer raised shares of Ecolab from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $320.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $342.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Ecolab from $325.00 to $327.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $325.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $327.56.

Ecolab Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of Ecolab stock opened at $281.91 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.18. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $243.15 and a 12-month high of $309.27. The company has a market cap of $79.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.84, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $276.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $273.73.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.08 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $4.42 billion during 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.89 EPS. Ecolab has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 8.17 EPS for the current year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.73 per share. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, September 15th. Ecolab’s payout ratio is presently 39.19%.

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.