KBC Group NV Acquires 246,237 Shares of Ecolab Inc. $ECL

KBC Group NV raised its stake in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 49.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 741,253 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after acquiring an additional 246,237 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV owned approximately 0.26% of Ecolab worth $199,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Saudi Central Bank bought a new position in Ecolab in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ecolab during the second quarter worth $26,000. J.Safra Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Ecolab by 202.6% in the 2nd quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 115 shares of the basic materials company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ecolab by 70.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Salomon & Ludwin LLC bought a new stake in Ecolab during the 2nd quarter worth $41,000. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ecolab Stock Performance

NYSE:ECL opened at $262.23 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $221.62 and a twelve month high of $286.04. The company has a fifty day moving average of $269.57 and a 200-day moving average of $267.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The basic materials company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.07. The company had revenue of $4.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.12 billion. Ecolab had a return on equity of 22.55% and a net margin of 12.49%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.57 EPS. 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, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ecolab Inc. will post 7.54 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Erste Group Bank assumed coverage on Ecolab in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Mizuho set a $315.00 price objective on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ecolab from $260.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Ecolab in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Ecolab from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $265.00 to $300.00 in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ecolab has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $295.14.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ecolab

In related news, Director Suzanne M. Vautrinot sold 1,354 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 19th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $3,171,108.84. This represents a 10.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.04% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.