Is it a Great Decision to Acquire Ecolab (ECL) Shares?

Baron Funds, an asset management firm, published its “Baron Durable Advantage Fund” first quarter 2022 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. Baron Durable Advantage Fund (the “Fund”) declined 10.3% (Institutional Shares) during the first quarter, compared to the 4.6% decline for the S&P 500 Index (the “Index”), the Fund’s benchmark. Try to spend some time looking at the fund’s top 5 holdings to be informed about their best picks for 2022.

In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Baron Durable Advantage Fund mentioned Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1923, Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) is a Saint Paul, Minnesota-based food safety company with a $44.6 billion market capitalization. Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) delivered a -33.41% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -26.78%. The stock closed at $156.21 per share on May 18, 2022.

Here is what Baron Durable Advantage Fund has to say about Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“Lastly, we added to our position in the leading water, hygiene and infection prevention company, Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL), as the stock sold off on concerns over rising raw material costs. We believe the sell-off is overdone as Ecolab’s strong competitive positioning and proven pricing power would enable it to offset the rising costs (though with a lag). We think that the company will continue benefiting from the secular growth trends towards sustainability, while still having a long runway for growth with only an 8% share of its estimated $147 billion addressable market.”

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Our calculations show that Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) fell short and didn’t make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) was in 42 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 39 funds in the previous quarter. Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) delivered a -14.55% return in the past 3 months.

In April 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q1 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.