Cantillon Capital Management LLC Sells 31,926 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

Cantillon Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 2.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,095,150 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 31,926 shares during the quarter. Ecolab makes up about 1.7% of Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Cantillon Capital Management LLC owned about 0.39% of Ecolab worth $295,077,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,411,233 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $6,188,736,000 after purchasing an additional 261,489 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in Ecolab by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 4,089,226 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $1,036,485,000 after purchasing an additional 93,409 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in Ecolab by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 3,805,952 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $964,885,000 after purchasing an additional 145,902 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in Ecolab by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,577,229 shares of the basic materials company’s stock worth $906,900,000 after purchasing an additional 27,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Ecolab by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,718,340 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $689,154,000 after acquiring an additional 173,298 shares during the period. 74.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ecolab Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of NYSE ECL opened at $278.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $78.87 billion, a PE ratio of 37.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.09. Ecolab Inc. has a 12-month low of $221.62 and a 12-month high of $286.04. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $274.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $264.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The basic materials company reported $1.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.90 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $4.03 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.03 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.52% and a net margin of 13.59%. Ecolab has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.020-2.120 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 7.420-7.620 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 16th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 34.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Jennifer J. Bradway sold 807 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $279.28, for a total value of $225,378.96. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 4,326 shares in the company, valued at $1,208,165.28. This represents a 15.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $283.16, for a total transaction of $383,398.64. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 11,199 shares in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $285.00 to $305.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Baird R W upgraded shares of Ecolab from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $300.00 to $306.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, August 26th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $290.92.

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.